[Chapter Size: 2100 Words.]

  Third Person POV

  Engnd.

  ...

  ...

  Severus stood there, in the middle of the destruction, as the st thing he saw was the grimace the headmaster made while being consumed by the ring. This clearly demonstrated that it had not been pnned by Dumbledore; after all, the man had looked terrified, like someone who had narrowly escaped death but had no idea how to flee from what awaited him.

  His gaze shifted to the side, where destruction surrounded him. The pine forest was completely devastated. Everything seemed immersed in silence, as if such an intense battle had never occurred moments before. But the ground before Snape told a different story.

  Snape saw his shadows reforming. They were finishing their shapes, and soon the 21 shadow soldiers stood before him, aligned and approaching while bowing to salute their king.

  He ignored the soldiers and turned his attention to another nearby spot. There was a pile of ashes left behind by the phoenix, where Fawkes had fallen to the ground and been consumed by his own fmes.

  He recalled Dumbledore's words and remarked with interest, "If he said it would resurrect, perhaps I can prevent that myself." Snape murmured pensively, raising his hand toward the ashes, which were beginning to transform, signaling that the phoenix would return at any moment. He waited, confident in his ability to wield his powers.

  "Arise," he commanded.

  A dark atmosphere began to form around the ashes. The energy grew stronger and stronger. Snape saw that he was succeeding in extracting the creature's soul before it could resurrect. The phoenix resisted the shadow's pull, but it was already too te. Dumbledore could never have imagined, even in his worst nightmares, that his phoenix would meet such a fate. Snape maintained control, cold and calcuting, as he extracted the creature's shadow.

  The ashes darkened completely, and bck wings began to emerge. The phoenix reappeared in its adult form, but now it flew in shadows, its entire body cloaked in darkness. It seemed to emit fire from its wings, but this fire was born of shadow itself.

  "Good. This will be very useful," Snape murmured, observing the creature with interest. A phoenix, after all, was exceedingly rare.

  The new phoenix appeared to be a valuable acquisition. He turned his attention to his surroundings, noticing that his shadow soldiers stood at attention, awaiting commands. Snape realized that his system had granted him additional levels for this accomplishment—not only for defeating Dumbledore, despite not killing him, but also for his progress as a necromancer. Fortunately, this gave him more shadow slots, and he didn't need to eliminate any to accommodate the phoenix.

  He could still fill more slots, but there were no other nearby dead beings to acquire. Dumbledore might have sufficed at this moment, but he was trapped in his own ring, offering no solutions. Snape knew he would need to find Steve to understand what was happening.

  For now, he had something more urgent to do: clean up the mess. Especially because the vilgers nearby had likely heard and seen the entire battle. It wouldn't take long for the Aurors to arrive to investigate.

  His gaze fell to the ground, where Dumbledore's wand y. Using his monarch authority to summon the item to him, he analyzed the wand and was certain he could wield it as his own. But he dismissed the idea, as his old wand had grown with him. Instead, he simply stored it in the system, where no one else could find it.

  Snape quickly began waving his wand. The entire area began to reshape itself. Fallen trees returned to their pces as if time were being rewound, and the ground leveled itself automatically. The pce, destroyed just moments ago, was restored to its original state.

  He looked at his shadows, the soldiers, and the phoenix that was flying, awaiting his command. He noticed that as the shadows restored the area, his magic was consumed. It wasn't overly taxing for two or three reconstructions, but he felt that the higher the shadow's level, the more energy was required.

  "Return to my shadow!" he demanded.

  Quickly, all the shadows merged with the ground before rushing toward Snape. Even the phoenix was absorbed into the shadow, hiding within. Finally, a few glowing eyes shimmered briefly before fading away, as if nothing and no one had ever been there.

  Snape then teleported back to his house, which had also been destroyed due to Dumbledore's attack. He quickly began restoring it, bringing everything back to normal. He had some time before the Aurors arrived at the location.

  He went to his firepce and, this time, did not leave his shadows behind. After all, he wasn't sure if his pn would work. Using Floo Powder, he vanished and reappeared in another pce: the neighborhood where the Bck family home was located.

  He stepped out of the firepce, startling the man who tended to that series of firepces. When the man turned to collect a coin, Snape simply said:

  "Stay silent." He said as the man nodded, grateful for the coin.

  Snape quickly left, walking down the street in that neighborhood. He passed the magical mansions of prominent families until he found a specific one. He stopped in front of it and rang the doorbell. A small chime sounded until a house-elf appeared before him.

  "How can I help you, sir?" The elf hesitated, uncertain of Snape's identity.

  "Snape. Severus Snape. I'm here to see the Minister for Magic. Tell her my name and that she owes me a favor. She'll understand."

  The elf, somewhat surprised, disappeared immediately.

  A minute ter, the elf reappeared. "Mr. Snape, the Minister is already coming..." The elf could not finish because the Minister herself appeared in the space behind him.

  "I'm right here, dear," she said to the elf, whose name was peculiar. She then turned her attention to Snape. "I'm surprised you've come to see me at this hour of the night and on this particur day. But... shouldn't you be at Hogwarts?"

  "Probably, but I haven't gone back to the school yet this year. I had an issue with some potions I was creating. That's exactly why I'm here to speak with you."

  She raised an eyebrow, intrigued. This boy had refused a good position at the Ministry of Magic in exchange for a favor, provided the Ministry never spoke of what they had done to him, and now here he was. What could it be? The Minister couldn't help but wonder.

  "I had a problem at my house. It was destroyed along with the forest nearby, causing a great uproar in the neighborhood... I need you to cover it up. After all, I've been away from the school for more than two weeks, and it would be quite bad if I ran into trouble."

  She looked at him with suspicion but soon sighed.

  "Then tell me in detail what happened to bring you here?" the Minister asked.

  "My potion exploded over a rge area. I suffered some damage, but I'll be returning to the school tomorrow. That's why I'd like your Aurors to cover it up; this would be the favor you owe me..." Snape replied.

  She listened in silence, knowing he was hiding something. But she owed him a favor, and even though the person before her was just a teenager, she could tolerate it. After all, she had to put up with some absurdities from prominent wizards of great families. She nodded before responding.

  "Very well, I'll do it," she said, although she found the situation suspicious. "But tell me, where did it happen?"

  Snape provided the address. He knew the Aurors would go there to handle the Muggles, and at first... they wouldn't investigate the explosion deeply. Snape pnned to leave traces indicating that all the commotion was caused by a series of potions, not a magical battle.

  He knew his location was now back on the Ministry of Magic's radar, making that house practically uninhabitable for him. But, at the moment, he had no choice.

  "I'll send a team there ter, as there was a battle in Diagon Alley with a huge explosion. All the teams are busy dealing with the Muggles who saw the explosion across London. It'll be handled ter..." the Minister expined, unaware that Snape was the cause of the explosion.

  Snape nodded. "That's fine. I appreciate it."

  After finishing the conversation, Snape left the Minister behind, returning via Floo Powder. He knew what he needed to do now: leave false clues at the explosion site to mislead any Auror who investigated.

  He quickly executed his pn, scattering traces and false evidence that suggested the destruction had been caused by a series of potions. Then, he returned to his house to gather his personal belongings.

  "Shadow, come with me," he ordered, summoning his owl and pcing it in his bag.

  He also removed all the potion ingredients from the house, ensuring that nothing compromising was left behind. When he finished, he sighed. He knew he would have to abandon that pce. He felt anger toward Dumbledore, bming him for ruining everything, and he swore to find him again. He wouldn't let that old man have an easy time.

  Leaving the location, Snape headed to central London, near the Ministry of Magic. There, he teleported to an apartment where he hoped to find Steve.

  He entered the building, unsure of which apartment to look for. Steve had ways of hiding his location. Snape began sending his shadows to explore the area, but before he could proceed, a door began materializing right in front of him, in a most unlikely wall.

  The door formed completely, the handle turned on its own, and none other than Steve appeared, wearing a slight smile.

  "Something told me someone interesting would visit me tonight," Steve said calmly.

  Snape huffed and entered the apartment as soon as Steve stepped aside to let him pass.

  "I need answers. Something very strange happened tonight with the ring you gave me," Snape said, turning to the mysterious man.

  Steve replied in a pyful tone: "Alright. I may have forgotten to mention a little detail or two about that ring." He spoke as if he already knew everything that had happened.

  Snape remained serious, but Steve didn't seem to mind. He closed the door and gestured for Snape to sit.

  "Let's talk about it," Steve said, beginning to expin.

  That same night, after crifying a few things with Steve, Snape didn't waste any time. He wouldn't wait until the next day to head to Hogwarts; doing so would clear him of many suspicions.

  Snape left Steve's apartment and went to an alley beside the building. There, he released his shadow phoenix and spoke:

  "Well, they say you can teleport anywhere. I want you to take me to Hogwarts."

  The phoenix, being a shadow under his command, had free passage to enter and leave Hogwarts unnoticed. No one could teleport directly to Hogwarts without being detected, except through very advanced forms of magic, such as Snape's shadow teleportation. But Snape knew he couldn't use that magic over long distances. Normally, he would rely on Floo Powder for travel, but with the phoenix as his shadow, everything became much easier.

  The phoenix let out a small characteristic cry, showing its happiness in serving its new king. It then enveloped Snape in bck fmes before disappearing, using something very simir to Apparition.

  The next moment, Snape appeared in the middle of the Slytherin common room. A scream came from the side, clearly from someone startled by his sudden arrival. He looked over and saw a prefect in their seventh year, who looked as if they had seen a ghost upon spotting him.

  The phoenix didn't know the exact location of the Room of Requirement, so it didn't teleport him directly there. Now, Snape would have to find the room himself.

  "It's... Snape..." the prefect murmured, incredulous.

  Meanwhile, the shadow phoenix silently returned to Snape's shadow without being noticed by the student.

  "I want you to stay silent about this. After all, I'm back," Snape ordered calmly.

  The prefect, clearly terrified, quickly responded: "Alright, sir. I won't tell anyone, I promise."

  Everyone at the school feared Snape at this time. Without Beltrix this year, no one could cim he could be stopped, and Snape didn't mind offending prominent families, which made the pure-bloods think twice before directly opposing him.

  "Good. Then I'm back," Snape replied, unconcerned, before disappearing again.

  Using his shadow teleportation, Snape reappeared in the Room of Requirement, in front of his bed. He noticed a note pced on it.

  "Welcome back.Signed, Pandora."

  Snape couldn't help but smile slightly as he read the message, as if the girl had guessed he would return at that moment. He set the letter aside and finally allowed himself to rest. Now, he was back at school and knew that the next day, he would have many things to resolve.

  -------------Nexts Chapters ----------------

  Chapter 162 - Ouroboros.

  Chapter 167 - History of Magic Css.

  Chapter 177 - Starting the invasions of noble houses.

  Chapter 186 - Alliance.

  -----------------------------

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