Hogwarts was protected by tight magical defenses: every wall was reinforced with anti-intrusion charms, and invisible barriers shrouded the entire school.
The woods by the main gate were as dark as the night itself, with only lanterns casting pools of light that illuminated Professor Snape waiting at the entrance.
But his face was darker than the night.
Before Jane Yu could speak, he launched into his signature sarcasm, performing with his usual consistency:
"Excellent, truly excellent. How refreshing not to see a flying car appear here—quite impressive, Miss Jane, Mr. Potter."
"I should have known that one of you two would manage something extraordinary on the very first day of term."
Jane Yu blinked at him innocently and earned herself a glare.
She felt she'd been perfectly normal the entire journey—they'd only been delayed a bit on arrival, hadn't they?
"It has nothing to do with Yu!" Harry immediately spoke up in her defense. "It was Malfoy who—!"
He swallowed back "beat me up," because that didn't sound particularly good and made him seem weak compared to his opponent.
Right now, he'd rather it had been Dementors or Death Eaters who'd roughed him up—at least that would count as something brave.
Snape, who knew Harry all too well, immediately locked his death stare onto him.
Having successfully provoked and identified the real culprit behind their tardiness, he snorted coldly and seized the opportunity to mock:
"I see, Potter. After a summer of earnest instruction from your mongrel godfather, even with Aurors protecting you, you still can't beat a student in your own year. If I were you, I'd probably drown myself in a train toilet before dying of shame."
Snape observed Harry's expression—like he wanted to shove his head into a toilet—and pressed his advantage:
"Bringing a classmate late, fighting on the train, yet you're proud of it and feel justified."
He critically examined Harry's attire and bruised, swollen face, snorting angrily through his nose:
"Muggle clothes—perhaps Potter thinks not changing into school robes shows off his charm, helping him save face in front of two ladies."
"But unfortunately, he has no face left. All I see is a blue-green toad hopping around here."
Jane Yu could sense that Snape's fury seemed to be burning particularly fiercely tonight—
Because aside from Harry, who'd been called a toad, he'd begun attacking everyone present indiscriminately.
After Harry, the next victim of his venom was Tonks, targeted for her ill-timed joke meant to ease the atmosphere.
"Uh... Severus..." she smiled awkwardly, hoping for professional courtesy. "Your Harry and Yu have been delivered and are awaiting pickup."
Having drawn his attention, she immediately faced Snape's glare, which stuck all her words in her throat.
"Obviously this toad isn't within my pickup range," Snape deliberately emphasized her name heavily, "Nymphadora."
Tonks, called "Nymphadora," frowned so deeply she could crush a fly.
She took a breath and forcibly swallowed back the vicious "Don't call me Nymphadora," silently thinking of the children's future.
"Perhaps I could help by taking the two students to the Great Hall—they should make it in time for dinner," Tonks forced a smile. "Do you need any other help, Severus?"
"Thank you, Nymphadora. Your greatest help would be taking this toad away to avoid polluting my eyes."
Snape's face curved into a mocking arc as he suddenly said:
"If you could summon your new Patronus again for everyone to see, that would truly satisfy my great interest."
Tonks widened her eyes—she could tell from Snape's tone that it wasn't anything good.
Jane Yu, very familiar with her mentor's temperament, finally understood why Snape's fury was blazing so fiercely tonight.
Tonks' earlier wolf-shaped Patronus had obviously reminded him brazenly of Lupin's existence.
—And had clearly announced that good news was coming for his enemy.
Sure enough, after being offended, Snape transformed into a pure warrior of hatred, curling his lip and sneering:
"Wolf or dog? Looks like a sickly, wheezing invalid."
He let out another disdainful snort and said contemptuously:
"But either way, I think neither is a good choice. Poor taste—not as good as your original one."
Tonks seemed to have lost all the energy she'd mustered hours ago to build a good relationship with Snape.
She truly couldn't imagine how she'd complete this arduous task of seeking medical advice with Sirius and Remus in the picture.
Having successfully made indirect attacks on his old enemy, Snape turned with satisfaction, immediately focusing on Harry, who was grabbing Jane Yu and preparing to rush headlong through the school gates.
His face darkened again, and a spell successfully struck Harry's hand hard to separate the two:
"Grabbing a lady's arm to make yourself look like a hormone-addled fool—is that it, Potter?"
Harry, mocked until his face turned red, wanted nothing more than to pounce and bite Snape like his godfather had. He felt his lungs were about to explode.
Tonks, still making a final attempt, tried to end the awkward atmosphere by mediating:
"Uh... perhaps I'll take them to the Great Hall first..."
"No, Nymphadora." Snape cut her off decisively. "Mr. Potter and Miss Jane and I still have several scores to settle."
His dark eyes locked onto Jane Yu, revealing a hint of triumphant expression:
"Let me think—late to school, Miss Jane—one year of detention."
He deliberately drew out the ending of "one year of detention" for emphasis.
After saying this, Snape finally exhaled a breath of pent-up frustration.
He felt the Order of Merlin was beckoning to them both in the not-so-distant future, which considerably improved his suppressed mood.
After all, who could resist the temptation of the world's highest honor and eternal fame?
Even under the Dark Lord's oppression and surrounded by spies, he still couldn't resist.
Jane Yu gladly accepted this 'punishment.'
She figured it wasn't different from what they'd discussed during the holidays—it was all research work anyway.
Right now, she just wanted to quickly end this annually repeated point-deduction and detention segment and the Harry-Snape teacher-student mockery exchange, and go to the Great Hall to fill her empty stomach.
But Harry didn't seem to want it to end this way.
He tried to use a blood-sniffing sound as protest.
This immediately drew all the fire onto himself, making Snape turn his head and explode:
"You don't think you can escape by luck, do you, Potter? What makes you think you have such good fortune?"
"Late to school—Gryffindor loses 50 points; not wearing school robes—another 20 points; and fighting on the train—20 points..."
He carefully examined Harry, trying to forcibly find other reasons to deduct points.
He quickly targeted Harry's hand that had just been removed from Jane Yu's arm, snorting coldly through his nose:
"Bringing a classmate late—10 points. And disrespecting a lady—another 10 points."
"Potter, I'm truly puzzled—when did your enthusiasm for school become as high as your eagerness to court ladies?"
Jane Yu felt Snape's point deductions for Harry seemed inflated, growing exponentially from first year to now.
But Harry's anger seemed to have crystallized into something tangible. He stiffly retorted:
"Probably because of certain professors being at the school."
This statement immediately made everyone present gasp in shock.
Tonks used the fastest reaction speed of her Auror career, covering Harry's mouth to prevent him from further angering Snape.
But Harry broke free from her hand and continued stubbornly:
"Sorry, sir, but you probably can't find other reasons to deliberately deduct my points this year."
"Anyway, I only got 'Acceptable' in Potions, so I can't take Advanced Potions!"
As he spoke, his face showed a hint of relieved smile.
When he'd received his Potions grade, he'd initially felt a twinge of regret, but that was immediately followed by enormous relief!
After the Auror recruitment standards were lowered, he still met the requirements!
Moreover, this single "Acceptable" directly freed him from Advanced Potions classes—freed him from Snape!
He knew that after tonight, his oppressed Potions class life would finally come to a complete end!
This made him forge ahead bravely and fight back directly!
Tonks looked like she'd fainted on the spot.
"Harry..." she sighed weakly, "You... how can you just... not listen to advice?"
Snape's pupils contracted instantly—he seemed to see a James hopping around in front of him.
He smiled coldly and immediately accepted this gift-wrapped reason for deduction:
"Disrespecting a professor—another 20 points."
"And—what a pity, Potter, I'm afraid I can't fulfill your wish."
He pulled out a notice personally signed by Dumbledore from his robes. It fluttered in the wind and smacked directly onto Harry's swollen face, as if slapping him across the face.
"Terrible O.W.L. results, not a hint of Potions talent—you naturally lack any qualification to enter my Advanced Potions classroom."
"But obviously, our Headmaster is deeply concerned about your poor Potions level and believes the Chosen One should have more privileges."
Snape wore an expression of being on the fifth floor while you're on the first—condescending and mysteriously profound—as he pronounced:
"Every Saturday evening, detention and remedial classes, Potter. You should be accustomed to this by now."
Harry immediately turned ashen.
He made a choking sound as if phlegm was stuck in his throat and couldn't breathe, his whole person deflating.
His desperate gaze gradually shifted to Jane Yu...
Since they'd both be going to Snape's office for detention...
Then perhaps... this wasn't so unacceptable after all...
This made a spark of life gradually appear in his eyes.
But this immediately aroused Snape's vigilance against troublemakers. Understanding Potter extremely well, his expression turned unfriendly as he quickly patched the loophole:
"Miss Jane, your detention time is changed to Saturday afternoons."
Harry completely petrified on the spot, along with his anger frozen on his face.
This time all his impulsiveness whooshed back, his heart cold as ice, feeling only cold wind rushing into his stomach.
Perhaps all the hundreds of times friends and elders had advised "stay calm, be rational, don't be impulsive" weren't as effective as these short ten minutes.
Harry had never so deeply realized that he shouldn't act this way—
Because he'd already experienced the price of impulsiveness twice in a row:
He'd fallen into Snape's hands again!
And for an entire school year!
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