Chapter 002: Snape's Persuasion

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" Catherine looked at the name in amazement, she had never heard of anything related to magic, except for those novels. And, if there is such a school, then what are its admissions criteria? Growing up, there were hardly any unusual, unexplained things that happened to Catherine, except for her amazing memories.

In Catherine's opinion, it is very likely that this is the latest trick of the Princes brothers, but today she was in a good mood and decided to play with them.

So she found a pen and paper and wrote:

Dear Headmaster Albus Dumbledore,

Hello, I'm glad to hear from you, but I've never heard anything related to magic, could you please send someone to explain?

Sincerely, Catherine

She sealed the envelope and held it to the owl, which bit it down and flew out of the window and disappeared into the sky.

Seeing that the owl was gone, Catherine looked out the window and thought about it, the weather outside was very good, she decided to give herself a holiday, after all, since entering the orphanage of the Princes family, she had been receiving all kinds of training, and she had never relaxed like an ordinary child, so the girl changed into an ordinary set of clothes and ran out.

Catherine played for a week, and on July 31, she finally stayed in the study of the main house of the Princes family and did not go out, because the desk in front of her was piled up with reports, which had been a backlog of problems in the Princes family business for a whole year, and which had been deliberately delayed until today.

It wasn't difficult for Catherine to solve this problem, and the Princes had trained her in it. The difficult thing is how to find out who is behind the scenes, so many reports have been deliberately delayed until today before they are handed over to her, which is clearly artificial. But what she's really worried about is what the guys who are hiding behind the scenes and trying to deal with her are going to do next.

Catherine thought worriedly, and at that moment the butler knocked at the door of the study, and said:

"Miss Catherine, there's a gentleman named Severus Snape who wants to see you."

"Severus Snape?" Catherine said displeased, "I've never heard of that name. ”

"He said he was a professor at Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts?" Catherine remembered the letter she had received a week earlier, "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, they really dare to send someone, and it just so happens that I will see if this is their masterpiece." She muttered under her breath.

"Let him come here, and," Catherine raised her voice, "have tea and refreshments be brought." ”

"Yes, Miss Catherine."

Catherine got up and walked to the window, looking down at the gate of the manor, where a man stood motionless. After the butler let the guards let him go, he walked briskly towards the main house.

He wore a black tight high-necked suit, a black robe over it, a pair of black leather shoes on his feet, and long black shawl hair, and walked like a huge black bat.

As he approached, Catherine saw that his hair was very greasy, his face was very pale, and with a look of great disgust, she hurried to the butler, and it seemed that he hated his present task very much.

"Yes, dressed like a wizard." The corners of Catherine's mouth lifted slightly, thinking contemptuously.

"Knock knock!" There was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Catherine retracted her gaze from looking down at the door and shouted happily.

A maid walked in silently with a tea set and a plate of snacks.

When Severus Snape walked into the study, Catherine had just lowered her head and was mixing milk tea, her long burgundy hair just blocking her eyes.

"I've never heard of anything related to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and I've never had anything unusual or unexplained around me, so," Catherine asked with a gentle smile on her face, but without raising her head and being very rude, "I'm curious to know if it's a hoax, Snape—Professor!" ”

But there was no reply, and Catherine looked up to see that his black eyes were full of disbelief.

"Professor Snape?" Catherine blinked and shouted softly.

The other came to his senses, but his eyes were still fixed on Catherine's face, and with an expression of disbelief, he opened his dry lips, but finally said nothing.

"You may be seated!" Catherine smiled and gestured to the chair across from her, "Earl Grey - do you need milk and sugar?" ”

“No,MissP…… Princess.” His tone was cold, and he seemed to have forgotten Catherine's current family name, but his eyes remained on her face, as if there was something on it that fascinated him.

"Can you tell me about 'Hogwarts'?" Catherine raised her teacup, blew softly, and asked with a smile.

The man's look made her feel uncomfortable, and Catherine decided to find a topic to distract him, and also to see what kind of story he could come up with.

"Hogwarts—" The other man's gaze finally left Catherine's face, and he turned his face to look north through the window, and spoke slowly in an unusually respectful tone, "It is a school of witchcraft and wizardry, a school established a thousand years ago by four famous sages to train wizards. It has four faculties:

Gryffindor, whose emblem is a lion, represents passion, bravery, impulsiveness and recklessness;

Hufflepuff, whose emblem is a badger, represents honesty, modesty, and cowardice;

Ravenclaw, whose emblem is an eagle, represents erudition, concentration, nerves and madness;

Slytherin, whose emblem is a serpent, is calm, cautious, cunning and evil.

Hogwarts implements a seven-year teaching system, including Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, Herbs, Defence Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic, Astronomy, Protection of Magical Creatures, Divination, Arithmetic Divination, Ancient Magic, Muggle Studies, etc., the first seven courses are compulsory, and the remaining courses can be taken from the third grade onwards, and the fifth grade must take the ordinary wizard (O.w.Ls) level exam, and only after passing guò can you participate in the improvement class, and from the sixth grade onwards, you can specialize in several courses according to the profession you choose, In the seventh grade, you have to take the Ultimate Wizard (N.E.w.Ts) exam, and you can only learn apparition at the age of seventeen.

At Hogwarts, people who are good at the table can earn extra points for their house, and any violation will result in a deduct of points for their house, and at the end of the year, the house with the highest score will receive the House Cup. Starting in November, Quidditch Season at Hogwarts is a tournament played on broomsticks, with the winner of the house winning the Quidditch Cup. These are the two honors that every college must compete for every year.

Slytherin has had them for six years in a row. At this, a look of pride appeared on his face.

Catherine looked at him in surprise, from the time she received the letter from Hogwarts to just now, she had always thought that it was just a trick of the Princes brothers, but this man's tone and expression almost made her believe that Hogwarts was the real thing.

"What about the evidence?" Catherine looked into the other's eyes and asked in a tone full of anticipation and suspicion.

The other glanced at Catherine, then looked at the teacup in her hand, and then the girl noticed that the weight of the teacup seemed to disappear, and she let go of her hand, but the teacup was not affected by gravity, but continued to levitate in midair.

"How did you do that?" Catherine was surprised to reach out and fumble around the teacup, but didn't touch anything.

"It's just a levitation charm!" The other party replied flatly.

"Levitation Charm?" Catherine blinked, and suddenly flicked the edge of the cup, and the teacup immediately flipped over with this force, and the milk tea, which was still exuding heat, escaped from the restraint of the cup and flew towards the other party.

The other party's expression did not change in the slightest, but he raised his left hand unhurriedly, and the tea that flew over suddenly stopped in mid-air and stopped moving.

This strange scene made Catherine involuntarily open her mouth and exclaim softly.

may have been accustomed to this kind of scene, the other party's face was very calm, his left hand drew half a circle in mid-air, and the scattered tea followed the trajectory just now, and returned to the teacup, and the teacup was also suspended in mid-air again.

"Now—" Catherine gripped the handle of the teacup and smiled as she looked at the tea that swayed slightly, "I believe magic really exists!" ”

"Does that mean—" the man's calm tone fluctuated slightly, "you've decided to go to Hogwarts?" ”

"There's only one small problem." Catherine put the teacup back on the table and looked up, "I need to know, where is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?" ”

"Because of secrecy, I can't tell you where it is, I can only tell you—" Snape pursed his lips, his eyes a little complicated, "it's in the far north of England." ”

"That is, if I were to go to Hogwarts, I would have to board for seven years!"

"Every student has to board."

"In that case, I'm afraid I won't be able to go to Hogwarts." Catherine said regretfully.

"Why?" Snape frowned slightly, but it gave the impression that he was very unhappy with it.

"I don't think you knew some basic information about me before you came here, did you?"

"Does it matter?" Snape was stunned for a moment and asked, in the ten years he had been a professor at Hogwarts, he really hadn't encountered a situation where he needed to know the student information in advance.

"Of course," Catherine smiled confidently, "because I'm the current ruler of the Princes. ”

"You're only 11?" Snape's calm expression was finally shattered by surprise.

"If the orphanage records are concerned, I only turned 11 on Halloween."

"Is your birthday Halloween?" Snape seemed to be incredulous of this.

"No, that's the day I was abandoned," Catherine sneered, "but the orphanage's claim is the day of rebirth." ”

"What about your adoptive parents?" Snape pursed his lips.

"I kicked out their two sons in a car accident last year, and a week ago the family was nominally owned by me, and of course it will take a while for me to fully grasp it. So—" Catherine's face returned to the confident smile she had just had, "I can't afford to give up this huge property in order to go to a school of magic. ”

"Is this your decision?" Snape's face was filled with irrepressible disappointment.

"Maybe you can help me find a reason—" Catherine suddenly stopped smiling, "a reason for me to give up what I have now and start over in a completely strange world." ”