As a master of Occlumency, a man capable of infiltrating Voldemort's inner circle, Snape had always maintained excellent emotional control, never revealing his true feelings.
But he had never imagined that revealing his long-buried secret — conveyed to the son of the girl he had once admired, through the language of flowers — would seem… as if he had been exposed instantly.
Snape's face remained impassive, yet his heart was racing.
How could that eleven-year-old boy understand Victoria's language of flowers?
With that question in mind, Snape met Harry's gaze, those piercing green eyes.
Those eyes…
"Severus~"
By the edge of the crystal-clear lake, a red-haired girl stood gracefully, holding a book in her arms. Her bright green eyes curved into beautiful crescents.
The sun bathed her in golden light, making her appear even more lively and charming.
Hearing her voice, Snape, nervous, tried to shove the dark magic book he was holding into his robes.
But in his panic, the book fell to the floor.
"Severus, you're studying Dark Magic again!" Lily exclaimed, picking up the book, biting her lip, her eyes shining with sadness. "Dark Magic corrupts a wizard's soul. Professor Dumbledore warned us about this. Do you want to become like him?"
"All right, Lily," Snape replied, lowering his head. "I hope you can understand. I truly want to…"
"Want to impress someone? Then you should know his principles, shouldn't you?" Lily said with sarcasm, her eyes sad. "Severus, you promised me once… and you've disappointed me so much!"
"Lily, I…" Snape opened his mouth to explain, but the words would not come.
Lily threw the book, Whispers in the Petals, at him and ran off without looking back.
Many times, in the middle of the night, Snape would wake up in a start. Only that book, Whispers in the Petals, brought him any comfort.
Yes, Lily was the mother of this boy…
As he immersed himself in memories of Lily, Snape suddenly noticed Harry's face.
It was exactly the same arrogant, self-assured face. His heart, which had begun to thaw, froze again in an instant.
"Damn!"
"Gryffindor… two points deducted," Snape said, expressionless, in his usual drawl. "For your cleverness."
With that, Snape shook his sleeves and returned to the podium.
"Harry!" Hermione asked softly. "Why did you say that? My God, I thought Professor Snape wouldn't be able to answer the question."
Harry raised an eyebrow, offering no response. He was also slightly confused. What was wrong with this professor?
"You're in pain, fine, but we Gryffindors are innocent. Why are you deducting points?"
He soon realized that Snape had actually been lenient with him.
Unlike Herbology classes, Potions was not just theoretical. Snape intended to teach through practice.
He divided the students into pairs, instructing them to prepare a simple potion for treating scabies.
While the students worked, Snape, dragging his long black cloak, walked around the classroom, observing them weighing dried nettles and crushing snake fangs. Almost all the students received a scolding — except Harry.
It wasn't that Snape didn't want to find faults in Harry; it was that after more than ten minutes of observation, he hadn't found a single mistake. Every step Harry took was flawless.
"Scabies potion," Harry thought. "I can watch you prepare Felix Felicis later."
When Harry bottled the potion with skill, Snape finally spoke, his expression complex:
"Very good. For a first-year, this is acceptable."
Ron looked as if he had seen a ghost, lowering his head, afraid Snape would notice. If the professor did, a ten-point deduction would be the least of his worries.
Harry looked up, surprised, seeing Snape's expression soften for a moment.
But before he could speak, a cloud of acidic green smoke erupted from one side, accompanied by a loud hissing.
It was Neville. Somehow, he had set Seamus's cauldron on fire, spilling the potion onto the stone floor and burning students' shoes.
Within seconds, the classroom was in chaos. As the cauldron toppled, Neville was soaked in the potion, his arms and legs covered with red, swollen scabies, wailing in pain.
"Idiot!" Snape roared, waving his wand to clean the spilled potion. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before removing the cauldron from the fire, Mr. Longbottom?"
Neville sobbed; the incomplete scabies potion he spilled brought no relief, only sores growing where the liquid touched.
"Weasley! Why didn't you tell him not to add the quills?" Snape scolded. "Do you think he'll make you look good? Because of your mistake, Gryffindor loses three points!"
In truth, Ron and Neville weren't in the same group; Ron was with Harry, but Neville was nearby. Ron accepted the scolding with calm.
"A moment of patience brings peace," Harry remembered, recalling what Gui, Charlie, Percy, Fred, and George had taught Ron before classes began.
Harry sometimes wondered if all Potions professors held an immense grudge against Gryffindor, especially the Weasleys.
Then, the scabies potion Harry had prepared was confiscated by Snape and applied rapidly to Neville's affected area, making the scabies disappear visibly fast.
Harry rested his chin on his hands, half his face hidden, sighing in frustration. He sensed that Snape was acting strangely and decided to ask Hagrid later what had really happened.
After all, Hagrid had been Hogwarts' gamekeeper for many years and a close friend of his parents; there was no reason he wouldn't know what had occurred between them.
/------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------/
Read more chapters on my Patreon: https://patreon.com/SailorTranslations?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink