A complete mess.
This was the scene Hermione encountered upon entering the Library.
Most of the windows were shattered, and fragments of tables and chairs were scattered evenly across the floor, making it look as if the room had suffered a terrorist attack. Several house-elves were busily working throughout the Library, trying to restore the broken furniture to its original state.
The bookshelves, however, remained intact; this 'attack' seemed to have targeted only the tables, chairs, and benches, without harming a single book.
"What… what happened?" Hermione looked around, a large question hidden in her small head.
She had only gone back to the common room to put away her books after Potions class; why had the Library been destroyed in that time? And where was Professor Kahn? He didn't seem to have class today, so why wasn't he in the Library?
"What are you doing?"
A stern voice rang out, and Hermione turned to see a vulture-like face appear nearby. Madam Pince gripped a feather duster so tightly it looked as if she was about to faint from anger—or perhaps she had just woken up from a faint. Her sunken cheeks were flushed crimson, and even her prominent aquiline nose was faintly tinged with red. She looked as if she wanted to kill someone but hadn't yet found the opportunity.
"Madam Pince!" Seeing the librarian still intact, Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and quickly asked, "Do you know where Professor Kahn is? I…"
Before she could finish, Hermione noticed that Madam Pince's expression seemed even more off. Her already flushed face instantly turned a liver color, her body trembled, her breathing became rapid, and countless bloodshot veins appeared in her eyes. Now she looked like she had just finished killing someone.
Clutching her chest and gasping for breath, Madam Pince finally recovered, saying irritably, "Hmph. If you're looking for him, you'll probably have to go to the Hospital Wing." She glanced at the mess around her, and it seemed her blood pressure was rising again, making her clutch her chest. "This current scene… at least half of it is his doing!"
"Professor Kahn is injured?"
"Yes, and Professor Snape too."
Hermione was startled. Without thinking too much about Madam Pince's words, she quickly bid farewell and hurried towards the Hospital Wing. On her way, she occasionally overheard discussions from other students.
"Did you hear? Professor Kahn and Professor Snape got into a fight in the Library. They say they tore down half the room!"
"I heard! I also heard that they fought because of a boy!"
"What?"
Listening to the continuous discussions, Hermione felt more and more confused. Professor Kahn and Professor Snape fought in the Library? But didn't Professor Snape just finish teaching their Potions class, with another one scheduled soon? Would they arrange a fight with Professor Kahn during such a short break? No, no, why would they fight?
"For a boy?" Muttering this phrase, Hermione's mind began to race with chaotic thoughts, and her steps towards the Hospital Wing slowed slightly. Her mind was filled with even more questions.
What Hermione didn't know was that as she went downstairs, Evans had already come up from another staircase, clutching his chest and muttering to himself.
"Hiss… that big bat really hits hard." Feeling the lingering pain in his chest, Evans couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth. Although his two broken ribs had been set, Madam Pomfrey hadn't used any pain-relieving magic on him. This meant it would take at least another half an hour for the pain in his chest to completely disappear.
But that big bat must be feeling worse. After all, he was still lying in the Hospital Wing, waiting for Madam Pomfrey to help him pluck his feathers.
I hope he can still make it to the next class, Evans thought with a mischievous grin.
However, that bat's pettiness was truly as consistent as ever. Wasn't it just teaching Harry a small trick? Was it really necessary to start a fight right there in the Library? If he hadn't consciously held back and actively ended the brawl by getting injured, at least half of the Library would have been destroyed. A Master of Magical Creatures and a Master of Potions, unable to use their most specialized abilities in a fight… he would definitely have had the upper hand. After all, although he couldn't summon people, he still had many magical creature spells.
But at that time, Madam Pince would definitely kill him, and Professor Dumbledore would most likely be one of the accomplices. Thinking about his brush with death, Evans couldn't help but shiver. It seemed that in the future, he would have to find a more secluded place to teach Harry, to prevent the bat from secretly sneaking into their lessons again.
The distance from the corridor to the Library was not far. Evans pondered where to continue his great work as he walked, arriving at the Library entrance in no time. As soon as he stepped inside, a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
They had actually caused such a huge commotion?
The Library's common area had completely disappeared, replaced by scattered dust, with only a few tables and chairs barely standing, all thanks to the efforts of the busy house-elves. This showed just how ruthless Snape had been. He had been in the Hospital Wing for at least ten minutes, yet these tables and chairs still hadn't been repaired. House-elves' talent in repair spells wasn't particularly strong; their use of repair spells was limited to restoring small broken objects. Completely damaged tables and chairs like these were very difficult for them to fix.
Thankfully, Madam Pince wasn't there at the time. Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have been able to enter the Hospital Wing so smoothly. Feeling relieved, Evans drew his wand, intending to help. He had a hand in this mess of table and chair fragments, so he definitely had to clean up…
His wand hand suddenly stiffened. Evans shivered, feeling an extremely cold gaze fall upon him. That gaze contained naked killing intent, and it was constantly approaching him. He stiffly turned his head and saw Madam Pince, holding a feather duster, her face so grim it looked like it would drip water. Evans didn't need to think to know what had happened.
The cat was out of the bag.
Immediately, he bowed sharply at a 90-degree angle, employing a traditional art form from a mysterious island nation. "I'm sorry, Madam! I was wrong! I'll never dare to do it again!"
His apology was extremely practiced, clearly the result of countless rehearsals. After speaking, he directly knelt on one knee, drew his wand, and drew a circle in the air with its tip, intending to atone for his mistakes with action.
Actually, a large portion of the tables and chairs here were broken by Snape, but that bat had directly disengaged and gone to the Hospital Wing, leaving him to deal with the aftermath.
Muttering to himself, lines of light flashed in Evans's eyes, and a moment later, a spell was uttered from his mouth.
"Reparo."
Instantly, all the pulverized tables, chairs, benches, and window fragments floated up. The items that the house-elves had barely pieced together also floated in mid-air. The next moment, time seemed to reverse; the scattered fragments reassembled in mid-air according to the order of their destruction, quickly returning to their original appearance and settling back into their positions.
When the last chair returned to its place by the table, Evans stood up and gave Madam Pince an awkward smile.
"Hmph." With an irritable snort, Madam Pince said nothing more. Seeing the surrounding architecture completely restored, she returned to her seat, clutching her feather duster.
But just as Evans thought he had passed the test and returned to his seat, he realized the problem was far from over. He had only sat down and stretched, making a slight sound, when Madam Pince's stern voice came from not far away.
"No noise allowed in the Library!"
(End of Chapter)
***
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