Myrtle continued to pirouette around Alan, looking at him with amazement.
"I can't believe my eyes... you've changed too much!" The girl finally stopped right in front of him, nodding sullenly.
And Alan, oddly enough, was even a little amused by this reaction.
"All people change over time..."
"They grow about ten centimeters and gain muscle, all in just three months."
"It's magic, Myrtle. By the way, where have you been? Usually, even death threats can't get you out of here."
Smiling contentedly, she began to circle joyfully again.
"I help my house with the first-year students, and also the Head of House with some matters."
"That's right, I'm happy for you, but still, don't overdo it, and if they start to offend you, just say so."
"Actually! I may look fourteen, but I'm older than you!" the girl exclaimed menacingly, raising her chin proudly, causing a smile to appear on Alan's face.
"Of course, you're older, so tell me what you did on vacation."
"Hm! It's time for you to go to class already."
"I have a free period, so I'll listen to you attentively, Miss Myrtle."
"Why do I feel like you're making fun of me?" the ghost said, pouting, displeased, but her childish innocence prevailed, and a radiant smile lit up her face once again.
The rest of the day turned out to be the hardest for Alan, because he could barely hold back sleep throughout all the classes, and one he actually slept through, having cast an illusion on himself.
Alan couldn't even imagine that such an interesting topic as Divination could be so badly ruined, and when an elderly teacher predicted impotence for him by the age of fifty, he almost sent her away, but restrained himself, because he was above that... he simply cursed her, and now she will repeat all day after every phrase: "I'm a charlatan, spank me."
And there was no point in even talking about Defense Against the Dark Arts: there was nothing except the theory entirely from the textbook, so he slept through the entire lesson under an illusion, and the teacher didn't even notice, which confirmed Alan's thoughts about his incompetence.
But Alan didn't blame the Headmaster for hiring a new teacher, as he had to find new ones every year. Due to Voldemort's curse, none of them could hold the position for more than a year, so many worthy wizards were afraid to take the job, leaving only "those" remaining.
The last subject was Apparition, which was taught by a real instructor from the Ministry of Magic, but basically the entire lesson was also devoted to theory, like the previous ones.
And so Alan's whole day passed...
It was getting closer to nine o'clock in the evening, after dinner, that Alan finally decided to stop by Slughorn's to get his opinion on the potions. Even though he knew they would work, Alan still wanted to show his trust and respect for his skills. He might have been a mere peak master, but Alan, oddly enough, liked the professor, and in some ways he reminded him of his teacher from his past life, despite their radically different personalities.
And when Snape was approaching Slughorn's office, he hadn't even reached ten meters before he was caught by a gust of wind and simply dragged inside.
Once inside the room, Alan immediately noticed a man of about twenty-five with curly straw-colored hair, rather pleasant features, and wearing very familiar clothes belonging to a certain potions professor.
"Severus, how can I reverse the effects of this potion?"
And finally, unable to restrain himself any longer, under the very angry gaze of the young professor, Alan burst out laughing.
"Mr. Snape! Stop laughing! It's not funny!"
"I-I'm sorry pff! cough! ~cough!"
"Severus, stop laughing! Help me!"
"Professor, that's impossible. I haven't yet come up with a potion that can remove this effect, but don't worry: it will only last twenty-four hours," he tried to calm the man, and at the same time Nagini crawled out, which cooled Slughorn's ardor a little, but her hissing, similar to laughter, caused him slight irritation.
"Oh! What am I supposed to do now?! I have classes tomorrow! How can I show myself in front of the students like this!" Slughorn exclaimed with a mournful sigh, falling into a chair and clutching his lush hair.
"Why did you even accept it? Couldn't you test it on someone else?"
"I tested it on a rat..."
Seeing Slughorn's slightly embarrassed face, Alan couldn't help but hit himself on the forehead with his palm.
"They found someone... They could have at least tested it on pixies, they're much closer to humans, or even better, on fairies... I didn't expect that from you, Professor, it's your own fault. I can't do anything—you'll have to wait twenty-four hours... By the way, what do you think about the potions?" He decided to change the subject, so as not to put him in an even more awkward position.
"Eh... I'm surprised you were able to create them, but at the same time, I'm proud that I taught you potion-making, and on the other hand, I want to kill you... but still, I'm intrigued by this potion." A turquoise-colored vial appeared in his hand. "I once had to work on something similar, and I noticed in it a dozen ingredients from different beauty potions: fairy wings, morning dew, rose petal, dried cuff, unicorn hair, ginger root..."
"You're right, it's a beauty potion, but it affects more than just external beauty. It affects the wizard's body itself, completely renewing it and maintaining it in perfect condition for exactly a week, with no side effects. The advantage of my potion is that you don't have to take a dozen others; just this one is enough."
"Hmm... I see, clever... I understand that you are going to ruin Madam Primpernel?"
"Don't embarrass me, Professor. I'm alone, and she has a whole team and a huge number of regular clients," Alan waved off weakly.
Slughorn pretended to believe him, but Nagini simply snorted contemptuously, since she knew much more about Alan's plans for that shop.
"But I'm still amazed... I can't even believe that you were able to create such a variety of potions in these three months..."
"I just had a good teacher..."
"Toady."
"I learn from the best."
"So, you call me a 'sycophant'?" Slughorn drawled, his gaze narrowing. Alan, smiling, patted Nagini on the head and looked defiantly at Slughorn. "Fine, I'm in a good mood today and I'll let it go... Instead, tell me how you came up with the recipe for this potion."
"Of course. After returning to the Muggle world, the very next day, I decided to pop into Diagon Alley to buy ingredients for my practice, and there I saw a shop called Madam Primpernel's Rejuvenating Potions. I was intrigued, so I went inside..."
Five minutes before lights out, having said goodbye to Slughorn, he left the office and headed towards the common room with a strange feeling, as if he had forgotten something...
And at the same time, one Black kicked the door from Alan's room with all his might, puffing in displeasure, and under the puzzled looks of the other Slytherins, walked towards the stairs...
You were the one who suggested meeting tonight! But if I run into him tomorrow...!
All the next day, strange rumors circulated around the castle about a new, attractive Potions teacher who had caught the eye of many older girls, and about a poor Divination teacher who had been cursed by some terrible wizard and because of this she had been taken to St. Mungo's.
But Alan didn't care much about this, because his day was spent almost entirely in the library, for the reason that, apart from the Charms discipline, which taught the correct wand movements and the pronunciation of the spells themselves, his entire day was completely free.
Alan primarily studied the basilisks in the Restricted Section, to understand what these monsters were capable of in this world, and oddly enough, there wasn't much difference between them. All the same abilities: a deadly gaze that instantly petrifies any creature that catches it; poison; tough skin capable of blocking magical attacks, though this wasn't confirmed, only the words of one book author, taken from an ancient manuscript; and also immense size, strength, and speed. One could say it was a true weapon against wizards, kept in the School of Magic.
And the more Alan thought about the basilisk, the more it seemed to him that Salazar was a madman who wanted to kill all the wizards, and his hatred of Muggle-borns was just a mask to hide the real truth. After all, what kind of idiot would keep such a dangerous beast right under the children's noses? And if the monster went berserk, it could easily kill half the school before the teachers and the Headmaster could intervene.
Of course, Alan didn't have any "tender" feelings for the students, teachers, or the school in particular, with a few exceptions, but still, even in his opinion, it would have been sheer madness if the monster had broken free...