Chapter 239. The End of the Exam and the Struggle with Oneself.
For his presentation, Severus had no more than ten minutes. The constraints were designed to ensure every student could present before dinner, but that time was enough for him to cover his topic and describe all the horrors of dragon pox without delving into excessive detail.
Beyond that, he was able to give the audience the welcome news that a cure for this virus had been developed and had been in use since the beginning of the month, though so far only with the consent of the patients themselves or their relatives.
After all, the serum had not yet passed the test of time, so neither the hospital nor the Ministry of Magic could take full responsibility for every patient.
Typically, such trials lasted six months, a year at most, and patients were required to visit the hospital weekly for check-ups to monitor any side effects of the treatment.
But based on the results Severus had presented, one could already conclude that the serum could cure even the most advanced stages of dragon pox, and that after more than a month, no side effects had been observed.
Still, it was too early for definitive conclusions, a point he was entirely open about.
After nine minutes, Severus snapped his fingers, dispelling the transparent screens hovering in the air that displayed the research results, mortality statistics, and numerous other analyses, then lowered his hands onto the podium.
"…Well, that concludes my presentation." He glanced at the hourglass, where only a few grains of sand remained in the upper chamber, then nodded calmly to the audience with a slight smile, his back straight and his head tilted just a fraction to the right. "Thank you for your attention."
With the exception of Slughorn and Thomas, the professors, like nearly all the students, looked like fish stranded on a riverbank, mouths opening and closing soundlessly.
Even Dumbledore was no exception, though he was the first to suppress his amazement. After coughing a couple of times to reclaim the attention of all those gathered, he spoke.
"We are likewise very grateful to you for such a significant contribution to medicine. I am certain that thanks to this cure, you will save thousands of lives."
"I merely refined an already existing serum. There is nothing to thank me for. I am certain that, in time, someone else would have accomplished the same. And without Professor Slughorn and the school Healer, Poppy Pomfrey, who advised me and opened doors in the fields of potion-making and healing magic, I doubt I would have succeeded at all."
Such words, delivered with a hint of embarrassment, earned a very favorable reaction from McGonagall and the other professors. In the magical world, it was rare for anyone to share credit rather than hoard all the glory for themselves, especially at such a young age.
"No need to be modest, Mr. Prince. Even if it had been completed eventually, by that time many worthy witches and wizards would have lost their lives. And you should not underestimate your talent," the Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement added, offering an encouraging smile as he tugged at the tip of his beard.
The other professors nodded in agreement. Slughorn, meanwhile, looked like a peacock in a henhouse, his undisguised pride practically fluffing his tail as he glanced from the young man at the podium to his colleagues, some of whom couldn't tear their envious eyes away from him. After all, it was he who had taught this young prodigy, and it was thanks to him that the boy had achieved such results.
Severus, observing the old potioneer, didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Slughorn usually carried himself with great seriousness, but deep down he was a rather vain old bastard, though he didn't particularly enjoy boasting openly about his achievements, considering it bad taste and foolishness. Occasionally, though, his nature won out, resulting in displays like this one.
The students looked at Severus with mixed emotions. Most of the Slytherins appeared happy for him, judging by their expressions and the loud applause, but behind those masks lay undisguised envy. Many from other houses regarded him with similar feelings.
But there were, of course, those who felt genuine joy and applauded him without masks or ulterior motives, though this did not apply to his own house or to the Gryffindors, with the exception of Regulus, Layla, and his sister, now the head of the Macmillan family. Even the half-bloods who had become his vassals were thinking more about the benefits they might gain from this.
And sensing all those gazes fixed on him, Severus began to understand why so many powerful mages in his world liked to surround themselves with kind-hearted fools.
If one were constantly stewing in a cauldron called society, especially among people like these, it wouldn't take long to go mad, particularly for someone with keen observational senses, such as empathy.
Dumbledore lowered his gaze to the parchment before him and, next to the name Severus Prince, wrote the number twelve.
"Twelve points. You may return to your seat."
"Thank you." Nodding once more, he turned and walked calmly back to his place, ignoring the students' stares.
"Mr. Potter." The old man's voice made the Gryffindor flinch; he had been glaring at that damned Snivellus with fury and envy.
"I…?" The young man was momentarily taken aback.
"Mr. Potter, please," Dumbledore repeated a little louder, gesturing toward the podium.
"Yes…" The fact that he would have to follow Severus came as a shock to James, and his anger toward Severus rose several notches at once. *It's him! Definitely him! He wants to humiliate me in front of Lily!* Fixing his furious glare on Severus's back, he cursed him inwardly. After such an impressive presentation, he was certain he couldn't possibly compete, and the commission would now have inflated expectations for the next student, which meant his grade might well be lowered.
But he had no choice. Gritting his teeth and still glaring at Severus, he rose from the table and headed for the podium, his friends calling out words of encouragement. The fact that Lily didn't wish him luck or even glance his way, but instead retreated into her own thoughts, only upset Potter further, and his resentment toward Severus intensified once more.
Severus himself couldn't have cared less about the Gryffindor's displeasure, nor did he have any desire to listen to his report or those of the other graduates.
"The topic of my graduation work is Combat Magic and Ways to Improve It…"
*No respect at all for the commission. Not even a trace. Vain idiot.* With that thought, Severus decided to take a short nap.
"Congratulations," Nagini whispered softly in his ear, while the rest of the students focused their attention on the new speaker.
*Thank you…*
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The presentations lasted until nearly seven o'clock, prompting the staff to push dinner back by an hour to ensure everyone could be heard.
Not all students, of course, were permitted to speak for the full ten minutes. Some were dismissed as early as the third minute, their topics and content deemed uninteresting, while others managed five or even seven minutes. Only a handful, Severus among them, managed to genuinely interest the commission, though it was primarily Thomas who sent students packing.
Still, everyone left with at least an Exceeds Expectations and would still qualify as fully trained wizards.
Layla received ten points for her report on Interspecies Transformations and Their Dangers, methodically laying out everything worth knowing about them: why one shouldn't engage in such practices, and what consequences they could bring.
The two half-blood brothers earned a fair seven points and an Exceeds Expectations. Potter fared little better, with only nine points. Had he behaved with a bit more restraint and respect, he might have earned ten points and another Outstanding for his file. But in his case, anger won out over reason, and the result spoke for itself.
His friends earned similar grades, with the exception of Lupin, who managed to secure ten points. Sirius Black, a pure-blood wizard, scraped by with eight, most likely only because he, like Thomas, was pure-blooded, and the old man simply couldn't bring himself to give him a seven.
Lily received nine points, though she could have earned all ten. First, she was Muggle-born, which didn't align with the Deputy Head's interests; and second, while her material was quite interesting, she stumbled several times and couldn't answer two of the questions at all, earning a well-deserved Exceeds Expectations.
Pettigrew also earned nine points, having chosen animagi as his topic and covering it adequately, which wasn't particularly surprising, given that he was an animagus himself and had a genuine talent for it. The same was true of the other three, with the exception of Lupin, who was a werewolf and hadn't studied this branch of magic.
After all, they had all managed to master this complex magic at the age of fifteen.
Severus had once considered mastering the animagus transformation during the holidays, but after seeing his Patronus, all desire to study that branch of magic vanished. The animagus form typically corresponded exactly to one's Patronus, and he had absolutely no wish to transform into THAT.
Therefore, like the Patronus, this magic had been locked away forever in the deepest recesses of his mind, where no Legilimens could ever reach, and even if by some miracle one did, they would never escape that place.
After Pettigrew's report, however, Severus's confidence suffered a severe blow. In the future, an animagus form could help him escape if something went wrong while he searched for whatever was sustaining the barrier in the forest of the Devils.
In animagus form, magic was almost completely suppressed and hidden, except for a small portion that maintained his form and consciousness. The mage became fully animal, nearly impossible to detect, and if one also applied concealing runes to one's body and wore an artifact with the same charms, an animagus would be virtually impossible to find.
For that reason, a genuine war raged in Severus's mind between rationality and pride, lasting until the end of the defense. After a short break for dinner and some conversation with classmates, it continued until curfew. In the end, rationality won.
But what happened next, and the sheer PAIN he had to endure when a certain snake learned about his animagus form, that was an entirely different story.
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