[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-hogwarts-learning-panel":3,"chapter-hogwarts-learning-panel-hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-272":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Hogwarts Learning Panel",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2250510,4210,"Chapter 272: Clumsy","hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-272",272,"\u003Cp>Croydon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The streets were piled with clutter, filled with people whose faces were sallow and eyes vacant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Professor Snape quickly found the orphanage named Hollyse, a single Victorian semi-detached house, long neglected and in disrepair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Orange light glowed through thick windows; Roland Taylor, dressed in worn clothes, gazed out with pale blue, bright eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She always watched the twilight outside, waiting for the one person everyone in the orphanage knew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some children stood outside the room, watching her—their headmistress. She was always so hopeful, even delivering every letter herself to the post office, as if placing it in the green mailbox would somehow delay its arrival.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, as the last rays of the setting sun faded, she received two strange visitors in black robes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her limbs moved with none of the sluggishness expected of an elderly woman; instead, she stepped swiftly out of the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beside the peeling paint door, the faded sign reading “Oak Tree Children’s Home” hung crookedly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Roland rush out, Professor Snape’s expression shifted slightly; he yanked Wizard Sean behind him—he remembered the vacant-eyed people on the street.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wizard Sean could only peek out, his small head visible from behind the professor’s wide robe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this, Roland smiled faintly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You must be Mr. Snape. Please bring Mr. Green inside.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She looked at his gloomy, hostile face, then at the small face peering sideways from behind—somehow, her eyes grew damp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His complexion had improved greatly… that was good…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Passing through the courtyard, now slightly enriched with play equipment, they entered the house; Wizard Sean saw that the interior had changed even more than last time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unlike its shabby exterior, the orphanage’s interior was thoroughly adequate—exceptional for such a poor district.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A warm fireplace burned, evaporating raindrops from the windows;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The soot-blackened walls had been repainted a pale yellow, with cheap paint but a comforting look; new iron beds replaced the old ones, hard but clearly numbered; each child now had their own iron bowl and wooden spoon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A large central pot bubbled with stew, rich with ingredients; nearby, a group of children gathered, their faces filled with longing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Snape and Wizard Sean entered, dinner began.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There were no distinctions of status; the headmistress, the rosy-cheeked, plump caregivers, and the children all sat together around one long table.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Professor Snape and Headmistress Roland sat at the head; Wizard Sean sat beside Professor Snape.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though there were no formal rules, whenever Wizard Sean reached for a dish, no one else would touch their fork or knife.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this, Snape snorted—pathetic behavior.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Headmistress Roland sensed something; she studied Snape’s cold profile for a moment, her eyes dimming slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Forgive me, Mr. Snape. These children express themselves only in slow, clumsy ways. If they cannot speak… God knows the fault is not theirs.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She whispered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Snape suddenly felt something—he turned his head and found the headmistress watching him with a gaze he could not understand, unfamiliar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It disgusted him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Night fell with the end of dinner; Snape’s inner irritation grew sharper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This orphanage only reminded him of one person.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A person whose name could not be spoken.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wizards who provoked the Dark Lord never met a good end; his inhuman methods took tangible form in Snape’s mind, and so Snape naturally turned his gaze to Wizard Sean, who seemed utterly unaware.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How foolish… how utterly stupid, to anger the Dark Lord over some insignificant person?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More importantly, he, who was monitoring Quirrell, had had the chance to stop it—and yet he knew nothing… just like at the vault.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stood in the courtyard, forcing himself to consider every detail; with the Dark Lord’s return imminent, no caution was too great.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly, he recalled that a certain Gryffindor headmistress had once spent time in the Forbidden Forest. At that moment, his fury nearly burst free; he growled:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Does Minerva McGonagall know about this?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wizard Sean sensed something, but still nodded and said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Professor McGonagall also noticed Professor Quirrell’s abnormal behavior.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Professor Snape coldly scanned the orphanage; his voice, hoarse, demanded:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tell me what happened in the Forbidden Forest—how much does Minerva McGonagall know?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The night was silent, save for the occasional crow flying past; Snape, who had just calmed slightly, now trembled with rage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An ignorant fool, daring to confront Quirrell without anyone’s knowledge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How many lives do you think you have?! You have no idea of the danger and terror of the Dark Lord, idiot! Utterly stupid! Do you think anyone will mourn you? A troll’s mind, I tell you! Only fools seek to be heroes! And do you know what true greatness is? Living! Surviving!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His mockery raged like a storm; his anger carried a deep, fragile dread, ready to shatter at a touch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why… didn’t you tell me…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stared fiercely into Wizard Sean’s eyes; those green irises were no longer bright.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This would inevitably be exposed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wizard Sean knew—but until the end, he said nothing, for Hogwarts had one person who must never learn Quirrell’s true identity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Professor Snape never spoke of that ritual, Wizard Sean handled the period of Voldemort’s concealment in Hogwarts with equal caution.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a double agent, any suspicion could be fatal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before Wizard Sean possessed the strength to decide the outcome of the war, he could not allow any deviation in Professor Snape’s actions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He said nothing, but Snape saw himself reflected in those eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had seen those same eyes before—he knew what they meant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The night was as dark as thick ink.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only two figures in dark robes stood in the courtyard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The children here always loved in slow, clumsy ways—almost never speaking, only acting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Headmistress Roland appeared without notice; she watched silently until the streetlamp lit the desolate road; until the fireplace blazed; until Snape’s heart felt something ignite within.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Remember your detention—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Snape finally forced out a few words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a while.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Far away, in central London, Spider’s End was always dirty and shabby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the seemingly empty house at the end, the cold fireplace burned again tonight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Qian will make up the six chapters within a week. The outline is ready; tomorrow I will deliver six chapters first, with quality and quantity guaranteed—I won’t break my word!\u003C\u002Fp>",1033,"2026-06-19T10:00:41.888Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","5e60426e53e919344f773db5d84687f4e4e3c1b9e701fefe00fb996601b62886","hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-273","hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-271",526,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fhogwarts-learning-panel-cover.jpg"]