Snape could only feel that Hogwarts' future was utterly bleak.
Lawrence's inexplicable appearance had brought a new trend to the school - everything had to be resolved with wands and strength.
Before he arrived, even when students fought, it was limited to small-scale conflicts, at most between a few individuals, and they would always avoid the professors.
But after Lawrence came, every conflict escalated to the house level, and the ones suffering losses were mostly Slytherin.
He had barely endured until Lawrence was about to graduate. In two more years, he would shed his student identity and no longer be as unrestrained as before.
But then along came Gabrielle.
On her very first day of school, she wanted to be some invisible Prefect. This lawless style was even more audacious than Lawrence's back in the day.
But it was understandable—her sister was a professor, her brother-in-law was the Headmaster, and he was the most protective troublemaker of all.
If he had had such backing back then...
He could have twisted James Potter into eighteen different positions!
Fortunately, Gabrielle wasn't sorted into Gryffindor. Otherwise, if she picked up the lions' bad habits and bothered Slytherin every day, it would be utterly infuriating.
Hmm?
Just as he didn't know what degree of criticism to use, a sudden inspiration flashed through Snape's mind.
That's right...
She's a Slytherin student!
Although problematic students gave professors headaches, look how well-off the Hufflepuff students had been these past few years. How long had Professor Sprout been able to hold her head high?
If Gabrielle truly grew up... wouldn't the current Hufflepuff be the future Slytherin?
Snape's gaze towards Gabrielle instantly changed.
He suddenly had a bold plan to cultivate a 'little Lawrence' to take revenge on Lawrence.
"Miss Delacour, you've done exceptionally well!"
Snape's shocking statement left the surrounding students utterly stunned.
Had their Head of House gone mad with anger?
Not only was he not punishing Delacour, but he was actually praising her?
"Slytherin previously had no system for a Shadow Prefect, but from now on, we do," Snape said gravely. "A strong leader can guide the house towards better development. Miss Delacour, what do you think are the rights and responsibilities of a Shadow Prefect?"
"Eh?" Gabrielle's large eyes were full of confusion and bewilderment.
Such advanced vocabulary—she didn't understand it.
Snape displayed rare patience as he explained, "That is, what do you think the Shadow Prefect can have classmates do for you, and what do you need to do for them?"
"This..." Gabrielle blinked, thinking for a moment before answering, "They need to respect me, give me the best food, make my bed for me, do my homework for me..."
"Stop, stop, stop." Snape quickly interrupted her. "Even a Shadow Prefect cannot have others do your homework. That violates school rules."
"Lawrence is the Headmaster. If you break school rules, you're not listening to him."
"Alright then," Gabrielle said somewhat disappointedly. "That's all for now, I suppose."
Snape nodded slightly. "Generally speaking, that's not too far off. Those are indeed Prefect rights. But equally, you must protect your classmates, not let them be bullied by students from other houses, and help the house win honours. If you cannot do this, others have no reason to respect you or follow your orders."
"This is Slytherin - victory above all, honour valued highly. Your followers will push you to the peak, and you must grant corresponding rewards in return. Understand?"
Smaller is better; smaller ones are easier to manipulate.
Watching Gabrielle's expression shift from initial clear confusion to thoughtful contemplation, Snape knew his words had taken effect. He announced to the first-years:
"The Shadow Prefect for the first year will be Delacour. From now on, you must obey her commands."
"Years two through four should also quickly elect a Shadow Prefect each. I'll communicate directly with you about matters going forward, and you'll be responsible for management. Those who disobey... you'll also have the authority to administer punishment."
"As a reward for becoming Prefects, you may also have your own private bedrooms."
Snape found this Shadow Prefect system rather excellent - it could relieve quite a bit of pressure for him.
This made his gaze toward Gabrielle grow even more gentle, a gentleness that really shouldn't have appeared on Snape's face.
"Delacour, you can come to me anytime with questions you don't understand. Not just Potions, but also Charms and Transfiguration. I have only one requirement for you - make Slytherin's first years the most outstanding students."
Children were always the type to be pleased with a bit of praise. Recognised by Snape, Gabrielle broke into a broad smile: "I'll definitely do my best, Professor!"
"Will you win?"
"Guaranteed victory!"
Satisfied, Snape departed, as if already seeing the day when Slytherin would suppress Hufflepuff and Gryffindor.
If not for the inappropriate location, Snape might have burst into laughter right then.
When that time comes... what will you be able to do then, Lawrence?
...
London, Grace's apartment.
Having just completed two sessions of human hardware softening engineering with Grace, Wayne remained unaware of Snape's little schemes as he recounted his conversation with Helena.
After listening, Grace remained silent for a long while, resting her head on Wayne's chest to listen to his heartbeat.
Wayne was nearly asleep when he finally heard Grace sigh softly: "It's good you told her. At least she understands clearly now."
"Mmm... if only she were properly dead." Wayne rubbed his eyes. "At least death offers hope of resurrection. But this ghostly state... I truly have no solution."
The Resurrection Stone could pull souls back to the living world, but it had no effect on ghosts - those strange beings neither properly dead nor alive.
He'd even had Ho-Oh examine her, but even its sacred flames couldn't affect Helena, and thus couldn't create a physical body.
"Having the intention is enough." Grace gazed at Wayne with eyes like water, the love contained within seeming to melt him. "If you want a daughter, we could have one too. If one isn't enough, we could have two."
Wayne froze for a moment, then shook his head vigorously. "I do like daughters, but I'm still a child myself now. There's no hurry about having children - waiting several decades wouldn't be too late."
Grace rolled her eyes at him. "In several decades, I'll be an old woman."
The words escaped Wayne's lips before he could stop them: "Aren't you already one now?"
"AAAAAH! LAWRENCE!!!!"
Another bout of intense entanglement followed, with Wayne expending considerable effort to subdue the succubus.
To prevent herself from becoming dehydrated, Grace desperately changed the subject, discussing the details of void exploration even though her throat was hoarse from earlier shouting.
Wayne smiled and stopped tormenting her, instead recounting his experiences and the deductions he drew from that period, hoping Ravenclaw's wisdom could help analyse them and identify any discrepancies with his theories.
"This is troubling..."
Grace's brows had already furrowed, "If the movement trajectory is really as you speculate, it will inevitably return to Earth eventually."
"Perhaps we'll see a recurrence of ancient times."
Among the materials she had found this summer were numerous records about the Ancient Wars. Though the battles occurred in different locations, they shared the common characteristic of being exceptionally brutal.
"The situation should be slightly better." Wayne said softly, "That small world with living creatures was the only one I encountered. After all these years, how many could possibly survive?"
"But those who do survive would be absolute powerhouses." Grace pointed out the crucial aspect.
"Powerhouses?" The young man revealed a faint smile, "Powerhouses are better. Larger rats are easier to deal with than swarms of locusts."
The Resource Altar... no, the Dimensional Altar was practically throwing a tantrum, continuously radiating resentment in his mind.
Not a single tunnel had opened for so long, and instead it had been used as a shield! It was a top-tier divine artefact capable of connecting to infinite dimensions, yet someone actually used it as a shield - truly a waste of its potential.
Watching the young man radiating such powerful confidence, Grace couldn't help but be infected by it.
Having once reached the peak herself, Grace understood clearly that Wayne's strength was likely unprecedented in history, having reached previously unimaginable realms.
Perhaps... only the deities from mythical legends could match him.
The next day, Wayne and Grace returned to the Death Chamber in the Department of Mysteries.
They weren't there to continue void exploration, but to relocate the entire Death Chamber.
If someday in the future, the world containing the other half of the archway were drawn into the prime material plane, the two would inevitably merge into one. The resulting commotion would undoubtedly be massive - perhaps even enough to blast the whole of London sky-high.
Naturally, Wayne wouldn't allow such a possibility to occur, so he decided to transfer the archway to a deserted island in the Atlantic.
He had considered setting up a powerful barrier to trap everyone inside the ruins, essentially catching turtles in a jar.
But after careful calculation and deduction, he concluded that during the moment of collision between two worlds, space and energy would undergo such violent changes that no barrier could withstand them.
So in the end, he only set up several warning traps nearby, hoping to receive notification at the first sign of trouble.
After spending the entire morning carving magical patterns across the room's walls, ceiling, and floor, Wayne wiped his nonexistent sweat and slowly brought his palms together.
The entire Death Chamber transformed into a massive magic circle, erupting in astonishingly bright light. Before Grace could study anything, the radiance gradually faded.
"Done."
Wayne pushed open the wooden door, letting in a gust of salty sea breeze. Neither of them stepped outside, as beyond lay a hundred-foot drop - the Death Chamber had been relocated to the cliff of an unnamed sea island.
"You're really quite wicked." Grace couldn't help but laugh.
She understood exactly what Wayne was scheming—he just wanted to see if anyone might fall to their death.
"Wicked is fine by me." Wayne chuckled darkly and took her small hand. "Let me take you back."
"You go ahead. I want to continue studying the magic patterns you just carved."
"Alright then. Master the Ascension Rite quickly - we'll perform it next month." Wayne added this reminder before saying, "I'll take my leave now."
With a wave of his hand, he leapt through the gateway and vanished into thin air, returning to Hogwarts.
As for the massive crater that had suddenly appeared at the Ministry of Magic, he trusted Dumbledore and Crouch would handle it. Since when had Wayne Lawrence ever concerned himself with cleaning up after his actions?'
...
Back at school, Wayne learned from Astoria about what had happened in Slytherin the previous night and finally understood Snape's intentions, letting out an involuntary chuckle.
"It's fine, let Gabrielle have her fun. Children are more adorable when they're lively - wasn't I just like that when I first started school? That's what makes them endearing."
Even someone as well-behaved as Astoria couldn't help rolling her eyes skyward at this.
Back then, Wayne had actually led people to blockade Slytherin house and had frightened her to tears multiple times.
Wayne laughed and pulled the wealthy young girl into his arms, ruffling her hair affectionately.
"No need to tell Fleur about this. She's too strict, always trying to mould Gabrielle into a proper lady. What's so good about being a lady anyway? I certainly don't care for it."
He trusted Gabrielle would know her limits. Had last night's behaviour occurred in any other house, he would have summoned the little one for a stern reprimand. But in Slytherin?
Wasn't this their tradition?
She'd executed it perfectly.
...
Meanwhile, in the Slytherin common room.
Gabrielle paced before a group of young snakes, wand in hand.
"Write faster! No looking at others' answers! You have half an hour left. Anyone who doesn't finish will be responsible for cleaning the common room today!"