Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle.

Chapter 304 Silver and Black Twin Serpents
The orange flames surged and burned away a patch of clean land, only to be quickly filled with new ash and mist.

Snape cast his spell with a blank expression, his pale face reflecting the firelight.

He had come to realize that there was no way out of this lost space in the spacetime rift. In reality, the terrace of the Astronomical Tower seemed to have been extended without a trace when placed here, and its actual area was probably larger than the whole of Scotland.

Those Dementors and Boggarts were trapped here for some unknown reason. They were like demons trapped in a thirsty hell, wandering and searching for endless years, finally waiting for these food creatures who walked right into their trap.

They could no longer sit idly by and wait for their fate; they had to make a choice.

Wait until the three adult wizards are exhausted and can no longer unleash Fiendfire and the Guardian Angel, then nothing will be able to stop it.

"Everyone gather around..." Hermione took off the time-turner and began to turn the hands on the timer.

Thick gray fog churned with rolling thunder. Snape glanced back, raised his hand, and unleashed a cluster of scorching flames. He withdrew the flames much later than ever before, only stopping when the Fiendfire was nearly out of control.

The aggressive spell immediately burned a clearing, buying Hermione a moment to begin her time travel.

Harry and Ron were the first to grasp the chain, Peter sidled up to them, and Lupin and Sirius also unleashed their final Patronus strikes, quickly reaching out to grab the gold chain. Snape was a step behind.

Hermione quickly activated the converter, closed her eyes, and let the timer tick away.

Will Lady Luck smile upon them now? Will fate take them to the past, or to an unknown future?
Harry suddenly nudged Hermione's arm. Hermione opened her eyes and saw him staring at the Time-Turner. The two hands, one long and one short, had returned to their original positions. Ron and Peter looked terrified, while Sirius and the two professors had let go.

Hermione looked around; the terrace was still the same terrace, and the fog was still the same fog.

Nothing happened; the time converter wasn't working.

They remained in this lost land, where Dementors and the monsters conjured by Boggarts awaited them. The gray Obscurus mist pressed down again, covering the sky as if the heavens were collapsing.

There is no escape, no avoidance.

[Fire Rage]

Snape growled as he cast the spell, and flames erupted forth.

As the gray fog drew closer, he had hoped that the flames could burn it away, buying time for Lupin and Sirius to work together to bring the situation back to normal. Unfortunately, he was already exhausted.

The erupting flames seemed to carry a malevolent aura, spreading rapidly with extreme heat. When Snape tried to retract them, he found that he could no longer control the flames. The orange waves of flame quickly went out of control and spread in the blink of an eye.

The fire raged uncontrollably, igniting the ash mist on contact. The flames surged and roared, their light dazzlingly bright. Various ferocious beasts emerged from the flames: roaring lions and tigers, wailing eagles and vultures…

The temperature difference created convection winds, causing robes to flutter.

"Out of control?" Sirius was stunned.

“It’s out of control.” Snape said silently.

"..."

Lupin dragged his weary body over and joined them, still holding his wand. Harry, his two friends, and Lupin also stood beside them, looking up at the raging firebeast in the sky, their eyes illuminated by the firelight.

The wizards present could all see that something was clearly wrong, but they still held onto a sliver of hope.

If the Fiery Blaze can burn all those monsters to ashes, there might still be a glimmer of hope.

But this glimmer of hope was quickly extinguished when they witnessed an unbelievable scene: the gray fog was not in a hurry at all, like a clever Muggle firefighter, cleverly isolating itself and splitting itself in two.

Some actively joined the raging fire, while others rose to higher altitudes, leaving a buffer zone in between to allow the raging fire to burn freely.

In the boundless Lost Land, the firelight grew ever brighter, burning so fiercely that the ash mist dared not approach. Yet, beyond the Fiendfire, various Dementors and small monsters transformed from Boggarts waited with anticipation.

Snape was exhausted, and the Grey Mist, like a patient hunter, was in no hurry. It let the deer, wolves, and dogs frolic, waiting for the Fiendfire to burn everything away and for there to be no more firewood before slowly pressing down to enjoy its prey.

The campfire had gone out, but the terrace was getting hotter and hotter, with the flames spreading their last rays of light and heat.

Before the last rays of sunlight had faded, the raging fire was already showing signs of fatigue, unable to form a continuous mass. The fire beasts roared in different areas, and gray mist was already pressing in through the gaps.

[Expected Guardian]

Lupin and Sirius cast their spell, and the Silver Guardian charged forward recklessly, causing the gray mist to tremble slightly before dispersing into wisps of silver light.

[Hilarious]

Hermione, unwilling to give up, brandished her wand, attempting to deal with the Boggart targeting her. She had already envisioned the comical appearance of the gray mist, causing it to turn into wisps of smoke and drift away involuntarily.

But the little wizard's negligible magic was simply swallowed up by the thick fog, and even the cracking sound of the whip could not be heard.

Heavy, dark clouds slowly descended, as if half the sky was pressing down on us.

The group stood there, silently watching the gray fog descend. They had a lot to say, yet nothing seemed to be said. Exhausted in body and mind, death did not seem as terrifying as they had imagined.

Peter was completely distraught, his bones felt like they were about to break, and he involuntarily wanted to kneel down. In the end, he covered his face and wept bitterly.

“No…I don’t want to die…” Peter groaned, almost pleadingly.

At that moment, a blurry outline appeared not far away, hidden behind the lingering mist. After a few seconds, as the figure drew closer, they finally saw the person's true face.

That was undoubtedly Professor Levent, whom they had been longing for. He wore a neat suit, had a young face, and dark eyes—features that were all too familiar to them.

"Peter! Calm down, your fear is showing again!" Sirius cursed weakly, kicking him twice.

With death looming, they no longer had the mind to wonder why Peter's fear was of Professor Levent.

Melvin looked at them and gave them a gentle smile: "Merry Christmas, everyone."

“You…you’re real?” Ron was stunned.

Not just Ron, everyone stared at him in disbelief. Hermione was almost in tears. Even Snape, who always had a cold face, was moved at this moment. Peter, who was lying on the ground, was overjoyed and scrambled over to get closer.

When they got close enough, they worried about getting his trousers dirty, so they stopped halfway.

"Let's catch up later, let's deal with this problem first."

Melvin looked up at the gray fog that filled the sky, where a few weak Fiendfires still retained some warmth. They lunged and bit at the fog fiercely, but the gray fog cleverly separated them, preventing the Fiendfires from touching them and igniting them one by one.

“Firestorm…” Melvin called softly.

At that moment, a whirlwind descended from the sky, carrying away the remaining embers and igniting all the gray mist in the air with devastating force. Harry and his companions looked up and felt an unimaginable magical power arise out of nowhere, pouring into the out-of-control Fiendfire. The fire beasts that had formed instantly withered, and the bones and flesh formed by the flames crumbled inch by inch, making the sound of firewood cracking, as if sacrificing themselves to ignite an even more intense fire.

They witnessed the most glorious and magnificent sunset of their lives. The scattered and out-of-control flames were absorbed by another flame, creating an even greater and more magnificent power. All the afterglow was absorbed by the new flames and turned into new fuel.

It was as if lava was churning in the clouds, and light was solidifying.

It was a basilisk, conceived and hatched from rolling orange-black flames.

It started as a tiny thread, taking deep breaths as if it wanted to take in all the air in the space into its lungs, absorbing the flames to grow rapidly and solidify.

Its body swelled and deformed, sharp bone spikes protruded from its flesh, black scales clicked and rattled, and its huge mouth opened wide, its glaring teeth hissing towards the sky.

With a deafening roar, fragments of various rats and spiders swept across half the sky from behind the gray mist. The remains of the eight-eyed giant spider burned fiercely, and the air was filled with a pungent, fishy stench—the smell of the burning Boggart.

Hermione sniffed, feeling a sense of déjà vu about the smell; it was the same kind of burning that took place in the courtyard of the Paris Museum.

[Expected Guardian]

Then another silver horned water serpent appeared silently, its size comparable to the Fiery Serpent, like a giant serpent of the mortal world standing beneath the World Tree, its body coiled up, its head slightly lowered, watching the tiny wizards.

One black and one silver, two giant snakes.

One craned its neck and let out a long howl, while the other bowed its head and stuck out its tongue.

Melvin stood between the two giant snakes, the fiery tornado ruffling his suit, the silver light shining on his composed face as if the two snakes were merely his pets.

Peter, who had been sobbing, stood there stunned, unconsciously touching the ouroboros mark on the inside of his arm. He was unsure of his feelings, a mixture of fear and relief.

Ron was stunned and began to regret not signing up for tutoring.

The dense, grayish-white fog that had been lingering gradually began to dissipate, like snow melting under the sun, quickly disappearing completely, leaving only the boundless terrace.

Lupin let out a long sigh and slowly sat down, leaning against Sirius. Even Snape breathed a sigh of relief, letting out a weary sigh.

Hermione stared blankly for a few seconds, then looked down at the small hourglass on the converter and was surprised to find that the dull gold sand had regained its luster.

……

The steaming butterbeer, frothy and floating in the clear glass, contained snacks and refreshments from Honey Duke Candy Store in a printed kraft paper bag.

On the terrace of the Lost Land, the campfire was lit again, and the group of survivors sat down to soothe their tired stomachs around the bright and warm firelight.

Half an hour ago they were pondering their last words, but now they were sitting by the campfire drinking and eating snacks. Harry and Ron leaned against each other, and the Chocolate Frog made the tension in their minds relax, and they felt their bones loosen up.

Peter also found the atmosphere cozy and hid in a corner, munching on bread. He dared not touch any snacks like cookies, fearing that making a sound would attract Sirius's punches and kicks.

"...It was Severus at the Christmas dinner who gave me a clue to find your trail."

Melvin explained his journey to this place with great detail and brevity, and also clarified how this group of people had come here.

Snape was a man of action. He disguised himself as Harry, left the school, rode a Firebolt to go fishing, successfully captured Sirius Black, and used Veritaserum and Legilimency to interrogate him to find out the real culprit who leaked the secret back then.

They then took Sirius back to the castle and fished out Wormtail as well.

Harry and his friends left the Christmas dinner midway through and ran into Lupin, who was reminiscing about the past. The two hit it off and activated the Time-Turner to travel back to the afternoon, when Snape was having a double meal.

Then it backfired, causing Peter to touch the time converter and drag a group of people into the turbulent spacetime rift.

Sirius picked up his glass, took a sip, and couldn't help but grin. Picnicking in a place like this felt weird.

Hermione touched the gold necklace around her neck. The Time-Turner had been restored to its original state, but she still had many questions in her mind about the terrace and the thick, lingering gray-white fog.

"I'm curious why the Boggarts and Dementors are here?" Melvin asked with a gentle smile.

"Yes." Hermione nodded.

"Because these two monsters are very peculiar, their life forms are different from other creatures. They do not age, do not need to eat, conventional spells are ineffective against them, they are almost immortal, time has no effect on them, and their reproduction methods are closely related to the wizard's emotions and soul."

Melvin reached out and summoned a wisp of mist. The space, scorched by the raging fire, was thinned by the mist, yet it still existed.

Hermione looked completely bewildered, only vaguely understanding what she was hearing.

Lupin offered an explanation: "Melvin means that wizards once came here, leaving behind emotions of fear and joy, traces of souls and magic. These creatures, which time could not stop, may have come along those traces."

“Time cannot be bound, but it is still affected by space, so it is trapped here, and has multiplied to this size over long years,” Snape added.

"But why does this place exist?"

"Who knows? For thousands of years, countless wizards have devoted themselves to the study of magic and the exploration of the world. Who can say that they have discovered all the secrets of magic and traversed every inch of space? There may be countless hidden places in this world waiting for us to discover."

"You're making it sound so mysterious..." Ron muttered, scratching his head.

"You're obviously a bad student who doesn't like to study," Sirius said disdainfully.

Several adult wizards couldn't help but laugh, and Snape also lowered his head and took a sip of butterbeer. After surviving the ordeal, he could still sit here chatting and enjoying snacks and beer, and his closed-off heart relaxed a little.

"..."

Melvin smiled knowingly. He wasn't trying to fool his students; the magical world still held many unsolved secrets: what lay buried beneath Azkaban, the enigmatic illusions of the life-or-death transit point, the destination of a wizard's soul after death…

Not to mention the several doors of the Department of Mysteries, each of which hides a secret.

“Ask us any other questions you have, because Dumbledore won’t allow us to talk about them once we get back to school.” Melvin turned slightly to look at the little witch who had been watching him.

Hermione thought for a moment, then looked up: "Professor... when school started, you had Harry investigate the truth of that night. Did you know about these things a long time ago?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the group of people who had been chatting and laughing suddenly fell silent. They stopped staring at Melvin and instead pricked up their ears, waiting for an answer.

Melvin paused for a moment: "I take back what I said earlier. In a way, we are still in the school's astronomy tower, so we can't say anything now."

Hermione gritted her teeth.

(End of this chapter)