[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.]
Third Person POV
Hogwarts.
...
...
Upon entering the place, a huge hall was revealed — much larger than the simple house shown from the outside — clearly affected by spatial expansion magic.
Very different from the run-down place with ragged wood and stone outside, the hall was rich in details, with lights floating throughout the area, leaving no shadows. It must have been at least 200 m², all lit by candles.
The Bloody Baron continued guiding them further inside. They were now in a higher part of the place, like a mezzanine. From up there, they could see the entire hall, with at least 80 ghosts gathered, all silent, watching Snape and Pandora with cautious eyes.
The contrast between the two was clear. While Pandora was beautifully dressed, as if she had been invited for the occasion, Snape wore completely casual clothes, clashing entirely with the event.
Snape looked at the crowd of ghosts and could see the fear stamped on each of them. It was visible, even if they tried to hide it. But unlike the last two months — when they would still flee at the sight of him since he returned to Hogwarts with the power of the Shadow Monarch — now they seemed to force themselves to remain there. Some couldn't hide it: they stepped back whenever he approached their groups.
"Well... As you know, we will have two guests tonight. So, as I discussed with you before, I hope you treat them well." The Bloody Baron spoke, beside the two, still on the upper floor. It was obvious he had asked everyone to behave, even in the face of general discomfort.
"Well, well... You are free to enjoy our party. I just ask that you don't harm any ghosts. They're a little frightened by the presence of living beings here." — He spoke cautiously directly to Snape.
"Of course! I promise not to hurt any ghost." — Pandora exclaimed with a smile, winking at Snape.
He merely nodded, without any comment. Thus, the Bloody Baron flew off toward the hall, while Snape and Pandora began descending the stairs.
"Him... how can they let him in here? We must leave as soon as possible!" — whispered the portraits next to the staircase, while Snape ignored them and checked each one to see if the system would announce any dungeon in them. But no portal opened, so they continued toward the main hall.
The ghosts gradually resumed dancing, even while casting discreet glances at Snape. Some whispered, pointing at his shadow. Like the Red Baron, some could also feel and notice the army of shadows walking at Snape's feet, which was not a very pleasant sight. The Bloody Baron himself constantly asked for calm — the last thing they wanted was to anger that being.
"This looks so fun!" Pandora exclaimed, excited, watching the ghosts dance as she arrived in the grand hall with Snape. The ghosts continued dancing while music played, performed by ghostly musicians, while couples twirled in the air to the waltz.
Pandora clearly had a sparkle in her eyes at the sight, thrilled.
"Do you want to dance?" Snape asked, seeing the enthusiasm on her face.
"Of course... but I'm sure you'll only want to dance with me after you finish your things, right?" She replied with a shy smile, looking at Snape.
He was about to answer, but suddenly began receiving notifications from the system — the portraits in the place were being detected as dungeons by the system, and that immediately drew his attention.
Snape sighed in the end, having to postpone as she had suggested.
"Yes... First, I'll finish my tasks here. I promise we'll dance after that." He said.
Since they were there, he would take the opportunity to access those portraits that same night instead of having to return later. The ghosts who had been watching him the entire time saw him simply advance through the hall, leaving Pandora behind.
Snape moved toward one of the portraits, which looked at him horrified.
"Get out of here! You're not coming here, are you?! Go away!" the portrait exclaimed.
But Snape didn't care, and quickly disappeared, entering the painting despite the artwork's complaints.
Snape entered the dungeon in a different dimension, while the painting kept searching for him, yelling that he was somewhere.
The ghosts looked stunned at what had just happened. The Red Baron was approaching Pandora, still staring at the frame.
"Your friend... where did he go? Can you tell what exactly happened there?" he asked, still a bit dazed.
"Oh, that I'm not too sure about. He said he's going to fight some battles in some... hm, 'special place'. I don't really know, but he always says he's getting stronger because of it, not sure exactly how. But he'll be back soon. He usually takes between a few dozen minutes to a few hours at most." She spoke with an innocent tone.
The Baron still seemed lost.
Snape returned half an hour later, while everyone watched, seeing the distortion in front of the painting as, without warning, he returned — even the dances had stopped.
"What a pain... The dungeons here are weak." He muttered, ignoring the painting that shouted behind him.
He moved to the next portrait. Another painting tried to protest, but he quickly entered it, making everyone stop to watch his behavior — as he simply disappeared into another painting without speaking to anyone.
During the two hours since Snape started, everyone saw him entering and exiting four different paintings, until he finally killed a mud monster in the last one that looked like a cave with a swamp. He was frustrated for not even gaining a level from it.
"Only gaining two levels from these four dungeons is too little." He grumbled, still inside the last dungeon.
He didn't even bother recruiting that boss as a soldier, as he considered it too weak and it would just take up space meant for potentially powerful soldiers.
His gaze dropped to his army. His men were still finishing off the remaining monsters in the cave, while some looked at him, gesturing in confusion, unsure how to deal with their clearly frustrated king.
"Let's get out of here." Snape said in the end, before simply disappearing into the portal that formed the moment he defeated the boss.
The scene then shifted back to the hall, where he found the ghosts, all silently watching him.
He sighed, placed his hand inside his hoodie, and walked through the hall. All the ghosts made way for him as they saw him crossing the hall, even while whispering among themselves.
Snape ignored them.
As he walked, he saw Pandora talking to some ghosts up ahead. There was food and drink on a table beside her — probably the ghosts themselves had brought it for her. Pandora always seemed to get along well with magical creatures and the fantastic beings at the school.
Despite having a unique beauty and being desired by many students, Pandora was considered strange in the eyes of most people at Hogwarts. Especially by the Ravenclaw girls, who often bullied her until last year.
However, since becoming friends with Snape the previous year, that changed her situation a lot. Everyone feared him and knew very well what he did to the Slytherin students who tried to mess with Pandora. That made her earn respect even within her own house.
Although she didn't have friends like the popular girls — like Lily Evans, for example —, Pandora didn't seem to mind. She acted with her usual innocence and had a friend like Clarisse Greengrass thanks to Snape.
The ghosts, however, seemed to genuinely like her, as did the house-elves and other magical creatures.
"Oh, Mr. Snape..." — suddenly, a ghost said upon seeing him, already noticing him, just like everyone else in that hall, as he passed the dance floor and approached them.
Snape raised an eyebrow, seeing how that ghost seemed at ease now.
"Your friend is talking about you. You're certainly better than I thought." he said suddenly.
"Yes, maybe we judged you wrong. Even though we don't know what you did in those paintings... They don't seem to be affected. But maybe we judged you wrong." another ghost nearby commented.
Snape couldn't help but be surprised by that as his gaze fell on Pandora, who was adjusting her large dress while sitting.
"Ah, I talked about how we've known each other since last year and how we spent the year!" Pandora said with a smile.
"She said how you helped her and even protected her from the bad people who tried to hurt folks in Hogsmeade." The ghost said.
"I see..." Snape commented, not caring much about it, believing Pandora hadn't revealed that he was the one who killed those wizards, only that he had helped her.
"Looks like you've finally stopped going into the paintings! How about you eat this? It's really tasty. I didn't even know they had this kind of food here." Pandora said, offering some caramel candies that the ghosts had brought to the school for her, through the house-elves.
"Alright." Snape replied, sitting next to Pandora, thinking of relaxing a bit after having completed four rather easy dungeons — so easy that he had used them even to level up his shadows, since there had been no direct benefit for himself.
The ghosts continued chatting with Pandora. They even tried to keep Snape in the conversation, but he was curt, replying only when necessary.
"Hey, why don't we go dance a little more, dear?" a woman in ethereal form, probably the wife of the ghost who had spoken earlier, approached.
"Well... looks like I'll have to go. It was good to see you, Pandora, Mr. Snape." he said, leaving to head back to the hall.
Only Pandora and Snape remained sitting, watching the ghosts dancing, while they cheered happily, not minding Snape this time.
Snape gave a small smile, stood up, and offered his hand to Pandora.
"I promised a dance, didn't I? How about you join me on the dance floor?" he said, while Pandora's eyes widened slightly, her smile growing on her face.
"Of course... I'd love to." she answered shyly.
Snape took out his wand and waved it over his outfit. In an instant, it changed: from a simple hoodie, pants, and sneakers to something more formal — an elegant suit and shoes — leaving him impeccable as he walked with Pandora to the center of the hall.
The ghosts were also surprised by this for a moment and thus, a dance began.
Pandora wasn't very skilled at dancing, as she had already shown at Slughorn's gathering the previous year, but Snape guided her with ease, calmness, and confidence.
The ghosts, cautious of Snape at their side, began to lose their fear. They simply watched him dance, without disturbing them. Perhaps they had been too quick to judge his aura; he didn't seem as bad as they had imagined.
And so, Snape danced with Pandora for hours, passing through the night in that ethereal hall.
At one moment, while they were close together, Pandora took the initiative as they maintained a closer dance: She leaned toward Snape and kissed him — catching him completely off guard.
She quickly pulled away, shyly, her cheeks flushed.
"I guess... there's no problem if we do this, right?" she asked with a slight blush on her face.
Snape was a little hesitant to respond, but sighed and gave a small smile.
"It's all right." he replied.
And so, they continued dancing.
-------------Nexts Chapters ----------------
Chapter 188 - The Battle in the Muggle World 01.
Chapter 193 - The Battle in the Muggle World 06.
Chapter 203 - Questions without answers.
Chapter 212 - Preparing for War 01.
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