Chapter 77: Trouble

Professor Snape's face looked gloomy as if someone owed him a hundred thousand Galleons.

Some young wizards noticed his expression and stared at Professor Snape curiously, wanting to know what had happened.

While Professor Snape usually had a cold face, it was rare to see him in such a bad mood.

However, Professor Snape didn't approach the professor's table.

Instead, he stood at the doorway and shouted into the Great Hall,

"Professor Sprout, I need you to come with me, and you, Arthur!"

Arthur was taken aback.

'Why did it involve him as well?'

Arthur hesitated, glancing at the steak on his plate.

The juicy, tempting piece of meat kept calling to him.

Arthur had known Professor Snape for a year, so he knew how angry he could get.

Professor Snape repeated his request, "Arthur! Come here immediately! Don't pretend you didn't hear me!"

Arthur reluctantly shoved some steak into his mouth, stood up, and walked towards Professor Snape.

''Professor, I believe I need to fill my nutrients right now and not be here,'' Arthur complained.

Professor Snape completely ignored him and spoke to Professor Sprout, "Professor Sprout, there have been some issues with the Whomping Willow attacking people. I'm afraid my decision might not be accurate, so I need your assistance."

When hearing this, Professor Sprout's expression turned serious.

She nodded and followed Professor Snape outside, with Arthur following behind.

As they walked, Professor Snape informed Professor Sprout about Harry and Ron's car crashing into the Whomping Willow.

Professor Snape seemed to enjoy telling the incident as if he expected Harry and Ron to be expelled the next day.

The three of them arrived at the scene where the Whomping Willow stood, whipping its branches violently.

Everyone had to keep their distance.

Without wasting any time, Professor Sprout approached the raging tree and calmed it down.

As the Head of Hufflepuff, she was indeed a master of Herbology.

Within minutes, she restored calm to the Whomping Willow.

Then she examined its injuries.

Professor Sprout returned with a worried expression and turned to Dumbledore, saying,

"The Whomping Willow has some serious injuries. The car hit its main trunk, and we need to use the Essence of Dittany immediately to repair it. Otherwise, it will affect the tree's lifespan.'

Everyone, except Arthur looked at Professor Snape, waiting for his response.

Professor Snape remained silent but glanced at Arthur.

At that moment, Arthur finally understood why Professor Snape had called him over.

During his secret potion practice sessions with Professor Snape, Arthur had secretly used Snape's ingredients to create some potions, including the Essence of Dittany.

Originally, Arthur intended to use the Essence of Dittany to grow his own herbs and achieve self-sufficiency.

However, he didn't expect Professor Snape to be aware of his actions and turn a blind eye until this critical moment.

Arthur tried to hide his annoyance by swearing himself under his breath, and then he turned to Professor McGonagall.

"Professor McGonagall, could you provide me with the location of my luggage? I have a potion of the Essence of Dittany in there."

Professor McGonagall revealed the location, and Arthur retrieved his wand, casting the Summoning Charm.

Soon, his luggage flew out of the castle, easily avoiding blocks along the way.

"Professor Flitwick would be proud of you, Mr. Gaunt," Professor McGonagall praised, impressed by the great Summoning Charm.

Arthur smiled and opened his luggage, looking through it until he found the space bag for potions and took out a bottle of green liquid.

He handed the potion to Professor Sprout, who carefully examined it and looked surprised.

"Mr. Gaunt, I didn't expect your potion-making skills to be so advanced. The quality of this bottle of Essence of Dittany is excellent," she said.

She poured the entire bottle of Essence of Dittany onto the wound of the Whomping Willow, and immediately a shimmering green light emanated from the wound, continuously shrinking it.

The Professors finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The Whomping Willow was one of the symbols of Hogwarts, and it had never suffered such significant damage since it was planted decades ago.

The professors had developed an emotional attachment to it, so seeing it restored to its original state made them very happy.

Dumbledore chuckled and said, "Congratulations, Mr. Gaunt. You've earned Ravenclaw 50 points on the first day of the new school year."

Arthur nodded.

He had long lost interest in earning points and now just wanted to go back and see if he could catch the end of the dinner to grab something to eat.

At this point, Professor Snape spoke up.

"Now that the Whomping Willow is fine, we should discuss the punishment for Potter and Weasley," he said.

"They caused quite a lot of trouble on their way here. At least seven Muggles saw their car flying in the sky. This will be in the Daily Prophet tomorrow. I suggest we expel them."

Professor Snape seemed to be getting more and more happy as he spoke, and even a smile appeared on his face.

Arthur found it rare to witness Professor Snape having such a positive day.

"Severus," Dumbledore interrupted Professor Snape, calmly addressing him. "Let Minerva decide on this matter. After all, they are Gryffindor students."

After Dumbledore finished speaking, Professor Snape's expression turned bad again, which made Arthur couldn't help but chuckle.

When did Professor Snape learn how to change his expression like that?

Professor Snape gave a cold glare to Arthur but didn't say a word and left the area.

"Alright, we should also go back. Please go and bring Harry and Ron to Professor McGonagall's office, Arthur," Dumbledore instructed.

Arthur nodded and headed towards the castle.

...

As he entered the Great Hall, Arthur looked toward the Gryffindor table and immediately spotted the nervous Harry and Ron.

The two of them were staring at the food in front of them without making any movements, clearly worried about what punishment they would receive.

"Ron, Harry!" Arthur spoke to them, patting Harry's shoulder, which startled him.

"Professor McGonagall wants you and Ron to go to her office."

Arthur delivered the message to Harry and Ron with a serious expression, making it seem like they were in big trouble.

When hearing Arthur's words, coupled with his tone, the faces of Harry and Ron instantly turned pale.

Ron muttered to himself, "I'm done, I'm getting expelled."

Arthur inwardly laughed.

He still thought it would be fun to scare them a bit and not tell them that there would be no major consequences this time.

Watching Harry and Ron supporting each other as they walked towards the staircase, looking like they could fall at any moment, Arthur chuckled playfully.

Just as Arthur returned to his seat next to Cho and was about to pick up a piece of steak, all the food suddenly disappeared, and he turned completely gray...

...

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