Chapter 146: The Savior's Training Plan (Edited)

At first, Snape had no interest in Dumbledore's boring game of Savior training.

With his complicated feelings for Harry, he would have made sure he didn't die, at best, rather than bother to raise the son of his rival love interest.

But when Dumbledore informed Snape that Voldemort had returned, and had even possessed Quirrell, he began to waver.

It was at that point that Dumbledore made his offer: Snape could torment Harry all he wanted in the meantime, as long as he could lead Harry to discover and stop "Snape," and he would leave the minor details alone.

So, without hesitation, Snape agreed.

The smirk in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class was genuine, as he was able to torment Harry Potter.

Over the next few days, Harry found that Snape was getting harder and harder on himself, not only in Potions but also in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and for the third time he, Ron, and Neville were sent to redo their work.

And Hermione was punished with extra school work for helping the three of them with their homework, but she enjoyed it herself.

On the other hand, Harry and the others, as they had discussed earlier, were still concentrating on revision, but were still consciously keeping an eye on Snape during the day.

Then they realized that, although Snape continued to seem indifferent throughout the day, they could clearly sense that he was in a very good mood, and that he was proud.

And it wasn't just Harry and the others who were under the illusion...

"Professor, has anything good happened to you recently?" asked Malfoy during a Potions class with a smile that made Harry cringe.

Snape looked at the Gryffindor students with a smirk, and replied in a long, evil voice, "Yes, because the vacations are coming up, and isn't it nice to finally get rid of some idiots?"

The Slytherin students let out a laugh in response.

"Nya?" Fish, who had been rummaging through the potions cauldron, looked up and asked Seamus, "Bloody hell, what's Big Brain laughing at, nya?"

Seamus grimaced, not knowing what to say to Fish, who, because of his inexplicable talent for explosions, was second only to Neville in Potions class, so he must have been one of the idiots Snape was talking about.

It was fortunate that Snape didn't pursue the subject further, as his main attention was on Harry Potter specifically, and the rest of Gryffindor would have settled for a passing comment, there was no need to waste too much time on those who weren't involved.

And so, once again, Harry found himself in trouble.

...

"Snape must know a way past Fluffy!"

After Potions class, the three of them met again. "Even Malfoy can see he's in a very good mood these days."

Harry didn't believe Snape's excuse in class.

And apparently Ron and Hermione thought the same.

"But... How did he know? There's no way Hagrid would tell anyone the method of getting past Fluffy." Hermione frowned, puzzled.

"Dragon's egg!" Suddenly, Harry had a flash of light and his mouth quickly parsed, "The man who lost the dragon egg to Hagrid! Don't you think that's strange? Hagrid wanted a fire dragon more than anything, and then a stranger with a dragon egg appeared in front of him, isn't that too much of a coincidence?"

"Actually, no matter how Snape knows, what we should be thinking about is how to stop him."

Ron was a bit more direct, he had always had problems with Snape and now that he had a chance to take him down, Ron was more excited than worried.

So he jumped to his feet and said, "If Snape's target is the Philosopher's Stone, he'll do it before the end of the term, so all we have to do is keep an eye on him and warn Dumbledore in time, AND he'll be finished!".

Even Hermione thought that was a good way to do it, the most effective way to catch him in flagrante delicto when they had no definite proof, the only risk was ...

"But, if Snape finds out we're watching him, will he freak out?"

"What if... we get help from Fish?" Harry probed cautiously, only to meet Hermione's gaze that was about to eat him up.

"Er... well, I'm just saying," Harry said.

"That's right! We don't need to watch Snape at all." After thinking about it for a while, Harry slapped his thigh hard, "If he already knows how to get past Fluffy, why hasn't he done anything yet?"

"Because Dumbledore is watching, of course." replied Ron with a puzzled look as he didn't understand Harry's train of thought.

"So we just have to keep an eye on Dumbledore!" Harry excitedly analyzed with Ron, "Snape wants to steal the Philosopher's Stone, so he has to lure Dumbledore, and when Dumbledore leaves school, that's when he'll do it."

"So that's it..." realized Ron, then asked a new question, "But if Dumbledore has been lured away, how can we inform him then?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Hedwig is just an ornament? And there are plenty of teachers at the school, just tell them to stop Snape, and wait for Dumbledore to return."

The three returned to Hagrid's hut to confirm that he had accidentally told the mystery man who had lost the dragon egg how to subdue Fluffy.

You really can't get any ideas out of Hagrid's mouth....

Harry and the three were helpless, now they could only wait for Dumbledore.

...

"It's an exam, nya!". ?(●ΦωΦ●)?

Early in the morning, Harry and the others were awakened by Fish's excited voice.

"Why are you so happy?"

Ron poked his head out of the tent and watched in puzzlement as Fish, who rarely got up early, paced around the dormitory.

"Because I'm getting a vacation after exams nya!". ?(●｀? ′●)?

For Fish, who didn't care about his grades, all he could think about was a vacation life where he doesn't need to read or write assignments in the future.

Harry envied Fish's carefree state, as he had spent the last few days preparing for exams and worrying about Dumbledore's whereabouts.

What he didn't want to face was the prospect of returning to his aunt's house, which he hated, after the vacations.

Exams at Hogwarts lasted a week, and with the exception of the last subject, History of Magic, all subjects were both question and answer and practical exams.

As Harry took the exam, he was still preoccupied with the Philosopher's Stone, which confused him a bit during the exam.

But when Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchments, Harry perked up with the rest of the class.

They had no school work for the next week and could have a lot of fun.

"Looks like Snape has given up." Said Ron with a relaxed look on his face as he stretched after his exams, "That's a shame, I was going to put him in Azkaban."

"Azkaban? Where is that?" asked Harry curiously, although he didn't think Snape would give up so easily, he couldn't help but ask curiously after hearing a new term.

"It's a wizarding prison used by the Ministry of Magic to hold prisoners, it's said to be so horrible that many wizards would rather die than be taken in."

The two chatted at times, forcibly ignoring Hermione's voice as she rehearsed the exam.

With the exams over, Harry, who had been worried, finally relaxed a little, because in a few days, when the school vacations were over, Snape would no longer have access to the Philosopher's Stone.

With this relief, he joined everyone in the Great Dining Hall for dinner, and was horrified to discover that....

At the teachers' table, Dumbledore was nowhere to be seen.