Hogwarts, where the stars shine

Underground in the castle, Snape and Martin stopped beside an empty, damp stone wall.

That was the entrance to the Slytherin common room.Steele Martin opened his mouth, but no syllables came out. He scratched his head and stepped aside in embarrassment.

"Glory." Snape whispered to himself, completely treating Professor Martin beside him as nothing.

With the password to enter the common room, a stone door hidden in the stone wall slowly opened.Snape strode in, followed closely by Steele Martin.

As soon as they entered the long, narrow common room, they saw a Slytherin student lying around.It seemed as if the two of them had entered not a dungeon, but a large corpse collection site.

There are all kinds of strange sleeping positions.

Some were lying on their backs on armchairs, some were lying on their stomachs facing the ground, and some were lying huddled on the ground.Under the green lights, the students' faces were as green as onion leaves.

The crackling fire and slight snoring formed a powerful lullaby.

Just standing at the entrance, Snape could already feel a strong sense of sleep coming over him.

"Although I was mentally prepared when I came, this situation is more serious than I expected!" Steele Martin's voice was full of tiredness, as if he had just drank sleeping pills.

There was obviously no high-pitched music in the lounge, but Martin was shaking his head wildly, as if he wanted to shake the sleepiness away from his ears and nostrils.

Snape closed his eyes, his lips pressed into a tight line, and the muscles in his sallow face twitched.The unbearable sleepiness repeatedly racked his nerves and consumed his will.

When Snape opened his eyes again, his black eyes became even deeper, like an abyss with no bottom.

Then, Snape took out a crystal bottle from his robe pocket, which contained a blue liquid.

The two of them stopped by the office to pick it up before coming to the Slytherin common room.After all, even potions professors and potion masters cannot carry around a bag of bottles all the time.

Snape took a sip himself first. He was about to pass it to Martin behind him, but Martin, who had quick eyes and quick hands, had already snatched it away and drank up the remaining liquid.

As expected of an alcoholic drink with 100% alcohol content, no matter what you drink, you always have the feeling of being drunk until the glass is dry.

"Hiccup..." Steele Martin, who was drinking heavily, burped loudly, and a stream of white smoke ran out from his throat.He asked: "What is this? It's so spicy!"

Snape said as he entered the common room: "The sobering potion can prevent the drinker from falling asleep. In addition, it can also wake up coma caused by drugs or impact."

"No wonder it smells weird, that's it." Martin sighed first, and then started to check on the students lying on the ground.

Snape looked at Martin with disdain and said mockingly, "You dare to drink it without even knowing what it is... It seems that I should prepare some special potion next time."

Martin, who was checking the status of his students, raised his head and looked at Snape with an aggrieved expression.

"Don't be like this, Severus. You know, I didn't do well in potions when I was in school. I couldn't even touch the threshold of the advanced class. Even if you give me a piece of madness, I will take it. Use it as cough drops."

Snape didn't say anything, but randomly found a boy lying on the ground and moved his hands up and down.

Of course, Snape's hands were very serious. He was checking the boy's condition, breathing, heartbeat and so on.Snape also opened the boy's eyelids and opened his mouth.

The students in the common room weren't in a collective coma, they really just fell asleep.

But they were sleeping so deeply that even after Snape's physical examination, the boy showed no intention of waking up.

"It's a bit tricky!" Steele Martin's voice sounded again, "Do you still have the sobering agent? Give them some to drink and try!"

The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor has checked on several students, and each student is in the same condition, falling into a deep sleep that cannot be awakened.Some people still had smiles on their faces, as if they had had a sweet dream.

"No more, I asked you to drink it." Snape said, "There's not a drop left."

Snape took out his wand and pointed it at the unconscious boy in front of him.

But after several spells, the boy still showed no sign of waking up.

While the two were busy checking on the students, the stone wall at the entrance to the common room opened again, and Dumbledore and McGonagall walked in hand in hand.The principal and vice principal were followed by Filch.

As soon as she entered the lounge, Professor McGonagall, wearing a plaid dressing gown, hurried down the steps, with an angry blush even appearing on her cheeks.

"How is it?" Dumbledore looked at Snape and asked.

At this time, Professor McGonagall walked towards the girls' dormitory angrily. She wanted to see those poor girls and see how they were doing.

"Just like Black said, everyone is asleep." Snape pointed, "That's what he was like."

Poor Argus Filch, he had fallen asleep against the wall, snoring so loudly that it drowned out all the sounds in the common room.

Dumbledore relaxed his mind, felt it carefully, and said, "It's really hard to resist. I actually feel a little sleepy."

"Perhaps we should ask professionals for their opinions." Dumbledore continued, "Steele, what do you think of this matter?"?

Steele Martin, who was standing by the fireplace, looked over when he heard this. He said, "I seem to have heard of similar things, Principal. I just don't remember it clearly."

"It doesn't matter, let's listen." Dumbledore said, "Maybe it can enlighten us and find a solution. After all, we are helpless now."

Steele Martin recalled it carefully and said, "It should have been after I graduated from school. At that time, there was some unrest here, so I left Britain and traveled."

The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor glanced at Snape as he spoke.

The three sober people in the lounge knew why the British Isles were not at peace during that time.

Voldemort's reign of terror enveloped Britain, Death Eaters committed all kinds of evil, and many Muggle-born wizards were persecuted.Severus Snape was once a Death Eater.

"I once heard an old wizard tell the story of a small village." Steele Martin continued, "That small village is like Slytherin tonight. Every night, the villagers will fall asleep collectively, No matter what happens, they won't wake up. They won't wake up until daybreak."

Dumbledore nodded and asked, "You mean, as long as we wait until morning, the sleeping students will wake up on their own?"

"I can't be sure." Martin touched his smooth chin, "I just heard it from hearsay. Moreover, I can't tell whether the situation of Slytherin students is the same as that of Xiaocun."

After telling the story he heard from the old wizard, Steele Martin walked to the boys' dormitory after asking for instructions.The greater the number of students viewed, the more conducive it is to analyze the causes of collective lethargy among students.

The only conscious people in the common room were Dumbledore and Snape.

Snape put away his wand and looked at the entrance to the boys' dormitory, his deep black eyes seeming to see through everything.

"He seems to be very concerned about your past." Dumbledore said softly. "People always say that things that can be said are not big things. But I feel that he is always reminding himself."

Snape smiled disdainfully and said, "I hope he can be braver and do something earth-shattering instead of venting his anger on the students."

"You are wrong, he is very brave." Dumbledore shook his head, "Let us wait and see, his true purpose."