Chapter 253: Abnormal Snape

When it came to moderation, Ivan was not qualified to talk to Hermione.

In addition to his normal school schedule, he also had a lot of things to do.

Every afternoon, when there was no class, he went to the Room of Requirement to prepare potions. In the evening, he checked and compiled newspaper articles together with Hermione in the library. After returning to the common room, he finished the homework assigned by the professors with Colin and Ginny.

Late at night, he quietly studied the dark magic books in his dormitory.

There wasn't enough time, and Ivan felt that he also needed a time-turner to make more flexible time arrangements so that he could handle all that he was doing.

Looking at the thick magic books and Hermione's parchment, Ivan was going to make some potions for him to concentrate and improve his focus.

All in all, after the vacation, he was back to his familiar and busy school life.

The next morning, when Ivan and Colin walked into the large dining room for breakfast, they saw Harry, Ron and Hermione sitting at the table and discussing their new schedule.

"After Professor Lupin's departure, there are new changes to this semester's schedule." Ron looked at the schedule and said happily, "That's fantastic. In third year, today there is only Sirius' Defense Against the Dark Arts class."

"This is Sirius's first lesson. The only problem is that he has to work with Slytherins students." Harry followed, as he grabbed some sausages and tomatoes.

"What do you think he's prepared for us?" asked Ron expectantly.

"I don't know, but I hope Sirius' first lesson goes well. If Malfoy dares to cause trouble in class, I won't let him get away with it," said Harry.

"Relax, Harry! Sirius isn't Hagrid; he won't let Malfoy cause trouble. I hope Malfoy can look for trouble, so we can watch Sirius deal with him." Ron spread a thick layer of jam on his bread.

"Third years are lucky! Second year has Potions in the morning and History of Magic in the afternoon. We won't have Defense Against the Dark Arts until Thursday." Colin said disappointed, as he also put up the schedule that just came out.

"That sucks, seeing Snape on the first day of school," Ron wrinkled his nose, apparently remembering something bad.

Thinking of Snape's face when he left yesterday, Ivan nodded his head.

"By the way, Ivan!" Harry looked up and said, "Hagrid wrote me a note inviting us to come to his hut for tea this afternoon and help him see what he would need for the new semester."

"I'll be there, what has Hagrid prepared for it?" Ivan picked up his bread.

"Probably some other species of caterpillars. After all, the worms died, he needs something new to run the course." Harry said uncertainly, with a hint of worry in his voice. "Didn't he promise us that he wouldn't rush out any new dangerous creatures before the verdict on Buckbeak's case came out?"

"He said so, but the problem is that Hagrid's definition of danger is different from everyone else's." Ron stuffed a large piece of bread covered in jam into his mouth. "Those fanged monsters can be cute babies in his eyes."

"That's why we have to help him pick the right creatures." Hermione shoved a thick magical book into her backpack. "I'll go first. I'll see you later."

"What's wrong with Hermione? I just looked at her schedule. Unlike us, she took three classes this morning." Looking at Hermione's back, Ron frowned and said, "That's what happened last semester. There was something wrong with her schedule. I can't figure it out. She must have something she's keeping from us..."

At Ron's words, both Ivan and Harry hastily bowed their heads. They knew why, but they promised to keep Hermione's time-turner a secret.

Ron was still whispering until Harry said that when they went with Hagrid this afternoon, he could bring out the fire arrow to test it and let Ron ride it. So he forgot about Hermione's secret.

Twenty minutes later, the hall began to empty as people headed off to their first lesson.

Ivan was separated from the cheerful Harry and Ron, and followed the frustrated Colin to the subway classroom. It was best not to be late, as it was Potions class.

They simply opened the door and saw Snape standing grimly on the platform.

"Mason, Creevey, you two are late, this class started five minutes ago!" Snape looked at the two of them in disgust. "Ten points off for Gryffindor. Now, hurry to your seats and sit down."

"But, Professor...," Colin said.

"Five points from Gryffindor." Snape said coldly, "Don't ask questions before I agree."

Ivan and Colin did not continue to argue with him. They saw Ginny winking and ran to their respective seats.

As he sat down, Colin whispered, "He doesn't know what he's doing. it's still ten minutes early for class!"

"We must be careful, Snape is in a bad mood today." As Ivan said, Snape's attitude was a hundred times worse than usual.

For students not of Slytherin House, the day's Potions class was a painful torment.

Snape first commented on the vacation assignments one by one in a bitter and harsh tone. In his telling, they were all useless, even to first-year students. He directly gave many people a zero and asked them to resubmit a new moonstone paper next week.

Then he paired them all up and ordered them to mix a simple potion to cure boils.

He swept his long black robe around, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone.

There were several Gryffindor and Hufflepuff girls who even cried at Snape's attitude.

Under Snape's supervision, no one but Ivan could successfully complete his own potion. Therefore, Snape deducted many points from everyone. Gryffindor took the hardest hit. At the end of Potions class, Gryffindor lost two hundred more points.

"I really don't understand, what exactly is he trying to do?", At lunch in the Great Dining Hall, Ginny complained to Ivan, "Is he trying to scare all the girls and make them cry?"

"I was about to cry. If Ivan hadn't reminded me not to add the porcupine quills to the boiling water, the cauldron would have exploded." Colin said with lingering dread.

"Yeah, Ivan got 20 points taken off." Ginny said bluntly, "because he successfully prevented his partner's cauldron from exploding."

Ivan did not participate in the discussion. Snape was really very abnormal today, and that should be related to Sirius.

What must have gone on between them last night?!

With Ivan's understanding of Sirius, he might be eager to play a game on Snape and score a small victory.

It wasn't clear what the outcome would be, but Snape seemed to have transferred all his hatred from Sirius to the Gryffindor House students.

His behavior this morning was abnormal to the extreme, and his attitude was worse than the earlier Neville incident. Normally, he would only treat Harry like this.

When Ivan entered the Great Dining Hall, he discovered that the atmosphere was as abnormal as Snape's.