HP - Shadow Monarch! [BOOK 1]

Chapter 177 - Starting the invasions of noble houses.

[Chapter Size: 1800 Words.]

Third Person POV

Hogwarts.

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...

Severus returned to Hogwarts just as the curfew had already been announced for the students. He simply lay down in the best room in the school, inside the Room of Requirement, and fell asleep after exchanging a few words with Dobby.

His shadows continued working on potions throughout the night, while he only had to spend his mana to maintain them—far less than what he would need to revive them.

In any case, he woke up in the morning and left for the common hall. He decided to take a walk around the castle, something he had been doing less frequently since mastering teleportation, but also to look for new portraits.

By coincidence, he found Pandora standing still, staring at a painting.
"You're talking about Severus?" she asked as some students passed by, looking at Pandora strangely.

"Your friend is a terrible person!" the painting responded in an odd manner.

"Why do you say that? Or will I have to ask him directly?" Pandora said, pointing at Snape as he approached.

As soon as the painting saw him, it seemed to scream like a frightened little girl.
"He's going to enter my painting!!" And with that, the middle-aged man depicted in the portrait ran off to hide somewhere.

"..." Snape raised an eyebrow.

It seemed he had already gained a certain reputation among the school's paintings. As he got closer to Pandora, he curiously observed the man reappearing in another painting at a distance. The woman in this second frame looked at him and, upon noticing the man's desperation, furrowed her brows before starting to scream.

"Get out of here! Do you want to enter my painting too?! This must be your fault! Get out now!!" the woman cried out in distress.

Even the paintings around the corridor watched the scene, swallowing nervously, clearly afraid of Severus.

"Hello, Severus!" Pandora ignored the commotion and smiled at her friend.

"How are you, Pandora?" he asked.

"I'm fine..." she said before glancing at the paintings one last time. "Well, shall we go to the Common Hall together?" she asked.

Snape nodded, following her down the corridor. His eyes scanned the portraits, but not because they were afraid. He was searching for something.

Along the way, it wasn't just the paintings that were terrified. Some poltergeists wandering about also seemed to sense something, as they fled the moment they saw him.

"AHHH!!!! He's here!!" Even Peeves, who had been tormenting some second-year students, was startled upon seeing Snape in the corridor and hurried away.

"How are you doing this? Everyone runs when they see you!" Pandora couldn't help but murmur, sounding quite impressed.

"Who knows." Snape shrugged, clearly withholding the real reason.

Most likely, the poltergeists could see his shadows and sense the death energy within him. More than ever, they understood the danger he posed to them, as Snape had no doubt that he could turn them into shadow soldiers as well.

As for the paintings... well, he was searching for dungeons. He hadn't found all the relevant paintings yet, knowing that the castle was immense and that it would take at least two months of careful observation to examine each one.